![\"Upsets,](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tycdf90s9xvqxu4b.jpg\")
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Some of the best players in America like to be humble. Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg is one of those players.<\/p>\n
When talking about unselfish basketball, Lendeborg said it all starts with passing. Then, he became the most modest man in America.<\/p>\n
“We don’t have a best player on this team,” Lendeborg said. “We have a guy that’s going to show up that night, we have a couple guys.”<\/p>\n
Says the guy who was just voted the Most Outstanding Player in the Midwest Regional All-Region team<\/a>, sure.<\/p>\n For Michigan, Lendeborg is usually that guy.<\/p>\n He was in charge of some of the best offensive basketball we\u2019ve seen this year at the United Center. It did not come from the Chicago Bulls, its own inhabitants.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t come from the team of professional players paid millions. It came from college players. They might still be paid a lot of money in the NIL landscape, but they\u2019re still one step from the Association.<\/p>\n In the case of the rebuilding Bulls, that\u2019s a team that needs some marquee players. There was an entire weekend of those players on display.<\/p>\n Hey, Arturas Karnisovas, you\u2019re watching this, right?<\/p>\n Local perspective:<\/p>\n The Bulls will eventually need some new players. Most of their current roster will be free agents after this season ends.<\/p>\n Even though they haven\u2019t said it outright, they\u2019re rebuilding. They\u2019ve jettisoned off their biggest names and this is an NBA Draft that\u2019s considered loaded. The top seven players are considered guys who can be a cornerstone player for the future.<\/p>\n Lendeborg is a player who\u2019s on the fence there.<\/p>\n His biggest drawback is that he\u2019ll be 24 before his first NBA game. Some also wonder if his jumper is NBA-ready.<\/p>\n Well, if you were at the United Center in the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, there\u2019s an answer to the jumper questions. He made 7 of his 16 3-point attempts in Chicago, and he\u2019s helped lift Michigan\u2019s offense to at least 90 points in every NCAA Tournament game.<\/p>\n In the case of the Elite Eight on Sunday, it looked like Lendeborg was unlocking another level of his game.<\/p>\n Michigan went on a 21-0 run to completely bury the Volunteers.<\/p>\n Lendeborg, the Big Ten Player of the Year, looked like the best player in America. He scored 17 points in 35 minutes to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. He flirted with a triple-double against Alabama, recording 23 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Who cares about his age when he can share and score the rock like that?<\/p>\n You can\u2019t ignore a player who\u2019s 6-foot-9, can pass as he does and is seemingly getting even better.<\/p>\n Lendeborg was flirting with triple-doubles when the lights are the brightest, and that has to be a player you\u2019re considering drafting,<\/p>\n “He’s been using his other gear,” Michigan forward Morez Johnson Jr. said. “I guess he been coasting and he’s showing everybody he’s been coasting.”<\/p>\n CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 29: Yaxel Lendeborg #23 of the Michigan Wolverines holds the Midwest Regional Championship trophy after the game against the Tennessee Volunteers in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at the United <\/p>\n When Lendeborg is at his best, his teammates are at their best, too.<\/p>\n Wolverines guards Elliot Cadeau and Roddy Gayle Jr. said Lendeborg\u2019s prowess lets them be themselves. For Cadeau, he can be the imposing and physical guard he wants to be. Gayle can find soft spots in the defense when it zeroes in on Lendeborg and be the multi-versed scoring player he can be.<\/p>\n “He always encouraged me to really be myself,” Gayle said. “It’s always easy for me to be able to kind of play off of him.”<\/p>\n Big picture view:<\/p>\n The 2026 NBA Draft will have plenty of options for the Bulls this year.<\/p>\n It depends on the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery, sure. But if the Bulls are in the top 10 they should have a chance to land a potential superstar, which they should be after being eliminated from the NBA Play-In Tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even if it\u2019s not one of the top three \u2013 AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer or Darryn Peterson \u2013 the franchise can land its cornerstone.<\/p>\n Does that whole age thing with Lendeborg turn you off? Nate Ament was also in Chicago this weekend, and the Tennessee freshman is a 6-foot-10 wing that showed he can handle adversity.<\/p>\n After averaging just 14.7 points per game in his first 15 games this season, he turned it around and averaged 22 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting 38 percent from 3-point range and 84 percent from the line in SEC play.<\/p>\n Ament may have struggled against Michigan, but so did plenty of other players. He still shot 75 percent from 3-point range to upset No. 2 seed Iowa State.<\/p>\n What about Arkansas\u2019 Darius Acuff? The Hogs\u2019 point guard is a playmaker who would be higher on draft board if it weren\u2019t for the likes of Peterson, Houston point guard Kingston Flemings or Illinois\u2019 combo guard Keaton Wagler.<\/p>\n Those players played elsewhere, though. Plenty of NBA-level talent was in Chicago this weekend.<\/p>\n Hey, Arturas Karnisovas, you saw that, right?<\/p>\n Some of the best players in America were in your backyard. It might not be a bad idea to look into them, considering how deep the 2026 NBA Draft is.<\/p>\n Not only do they have the tools and the talent, they also have the right mental makeup.<\/p>\n They\u2019re winners. Isn\u2019t that what it\u2019s all about?<\/p>\n “We’re an unselfish group of guys. Nobody cares about their stats on this team,” Lendenborg said. “It doesn’t matter. We’re going to go out there and do whatever we need to do to win.”<\/p>\n NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament<\/a>Sports Commentary<\/a>Bulls<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some of the best players in America like to be humble. Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg is one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,6,1400,66,27280],"class_list":{"0":"post-687177","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bulls","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bulls","12":"tag-chicagobulls","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-ncaa-tournament","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-sports-commentary"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116315696742399457","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2268968412.jpg\")
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