​Warriors forward Yaxel Lendeborg drives against Los Angeles Lakers guard Adou Thiero in a preseason game at Chase Center on Tuesday. (Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle)
With the NBA season opening next week, here’s a sampling of the players we’re eager to see:Yaxel Lendeborg: When it comes to scoring potential, this is the Warriors’ smartest draft pick in 15 years. In other words: Finally. He’s no Klay Thompson as a shooter, but that’s an unfair comparison. Lendeborg has shown that can do anything on the offensive end: operate on the perimeter, execute cuts and screens, play the two-man game, attack the basket, score in traffic and bury shots from any distance.And at 6-foot-9, a leaper with agility and power, he is an absolute godsend at the wing position.The trick is to actually find him doing all these things consistently. As colleague Luca Evans has expertly detailed, Lendeborg struggles with his confidence and motivation. He’ll readily admit that his mind goes vacant at times. Head coach Steve Kerr has called him “unbelievably coachable” and a deeply impressed Draymond Green says the 24-year-old often plays like he’s been with the team for years, but an in-and-out mentality doesn’t work too well in the NBA.Is it really a crisis? No chance, it says here. Lendeborg will grow into his maturity, realizing he already has more elite weapons than the NBA majority. He’s got a mentor in Green, who went a bit too far with the Michigan-Michigan State hazing but will settle into things that matter: court vision, defensive technique, steady “game face” and how to maximize playing alongside Stephen Curry and, eventually, Jimmy Butler.This storyline, alone, will make the season worth watching.Victor Wembanyama: Already a superior being, perhaps from a galaxy unknown, he will undoubtedly return in the manner of the vintage Magic Johnson, who added a little something to his arsenal each year. This time it has to be the back-to-the-basket game that made Kareem Abdul-Jabbar so unstoppable. The Spurs’ center loves the outside shot and a chance to show off his fancy dribbling, with good reason, but imagine this 7-foot-4 revelation getting serious about finesse shots in the paint.Luca Dončić: He’s unquestionably the story around Crypto.com Arena with LeBron James and several others departing. But he’s a pure entertainer with the ball in his hands, stepping back for a casual 30-footer and smiling like a circus performer. Just lay off the refs, man. Enough with the bratty words and gestures.Curry from Hayward: During his astonishing pregame routines, it does seem like he’s shooting from that far away. The best one yet: that full-court 94-footer in warmups last season. This is basically an impossible shot to get consistently close to the hoop, but Curry has it wired, slinging it like a discus to get the exact spin needed for long-distance travel. He will cash it again in public, more than once.The Timberwolves’ backcourt: The old way didn’t work. Even with two trip