Draymond Green already sees something unusual in rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, and he believes it is a trait shared by Jimmy Butler.
Speaking about Lendeborg’s early development, Green praised the rookie’s ability to read the floor, saying his vision can occasionally become almost too good for a player with legitimate scoring talent.
“Yaxel is a great scorer, and he’s a really good scorer who I think ultimately has the potential to become a great scorer,” Green said. “However, Yaxel has this issue that most scorers don’t have, but some do. Jimmy Butler has the same issue.”
What Green means is that Lendeborg is often so aware of what is happening around him that he does not always default to attacking as aggressively as a scorer might be expected to.
According to Green, there are possessions when the best decision for Lendeborg may simply be to put his head down and score, yet his instinct is still to recognize teammates, passing windows and other options developing around him.
“They see the floor so well that when you want them to have tunnel vision and go score, they see the floor so well,” Green said. “And that’s Yaxel.”
Draymond says rookie Yaxel Lendeborg sees the floor sometimes “too good” similar to Jimmy Butler:
“Starting with Yaxel, the rookie, he really sees the floor sometimes too good. And what I mean by sometimes too good is, so Yaxel is a great scorer, and he’s a really good scorer who I think ultimately has the potential to become a great scorer. However, Yaxel has this issue that most scorers don’t have, but some do. Jimmy Butler has the same issue. Meaning they see the floor so well that when you want them to have tunnel vision and go score, they see the floor so well. And that’s Yaxel. And so I said all of that to say, obviously, Yaxel sees the court very well.”
(via @DraymondShow)
— aly ✶ (@jinthirty) October 4, 2026
Jimmy Butler has long been known for combining scoring with patience, playmaking and an ability to manipulate defenses rather than operating as a pure shot hunter. Green sees a similar instinct in Lendeborg.
For a rookie, that is an encouraging problem to have. Developing scoring aggression is one thing. Teaching a player to process the floor at a high level is often much more difficult.
If Lendeborg can eventually find the right balance between his natural playmaking instincts and becoming more decisive as a scorer, Green believes the foundation is there for him to become a much more complete offensive player.
