Golden State's Yaxel Lendeborg was named the 2026 NBA Summer League MVP on July 21, 2026. He averaged 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists over six games and led the Warriors to the Las Vegas title. Kalshi, the only venue to list the award, settled Lendeborg Yes that afternoon. He was a long shot when the result landed, at about 5% an hour before the close, with Meleek Thomas the favorite.
Resolved July 21, 2026.
Yaxel Lendeborg won the 2026 NBA Summer League MVP award. The NBA announced it on July 21, 2026, two days after he led the Golden State Warriors to the Las Vegas championship. The market did not see it coming. In the last hour before Kalshi closed trading, Lendeborg sat at about 5%, behind Cleveland's Meleek Thomas at about 45% and Memphis's Cameron Boozer at 27%.
The NBA named Lendeborg MVP when it released its All-Summer League teams. The No. 11 pick out of Michigan averaged 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists across six games, according to NBA.com. The First Team was Lendeborg, Boozer (Memphis), Brayden Burries (Milwaukee), Thomas (Cleveland) and Caleb Wilson (Chicago), chosen by a vote of all 30 NBA teams. The Second Team was Cedric Coward (Memphis), Egor Demin (Brooklyn), Khaman Maluach (Phoenix), Liam McNeeley (Charlotte) and Zyon Pullin (Minnesota).
Kalshi was the only venue with a market on the award. It closed the 21-contract event at 1:15 pm ET on July 21 and settled it at 1:20 pm ET. Lendeborg resolved Yes. The other 19 players and the Tie/Co-Winners contract resolved No. The event drew about 505,200 contracts, about 363,400 of them on Lendeborg. Polymarket did not list the award.
Lendeborg's case was built on winning. Golden State went 3-1 in group play, beat the Lakers 92-88 in the July 18 semifinal and beat Memphis 94-90 in the July 19 final. In the final he had 21 points and 10 rebounds, scored 9 of those points in a fourth quarter the Warriors won 28-14, and was named MVP of the championship game. Boozer, the No. 3 pick and the other headline rookie in that game, had 19 points and 8 rebounds in the loss.
The award capped a strong four months for Lendeborg. Michigan won the NCAA title by beating UConn 69-63 on April 6, 2026, and he followed it with a Summer League title and the MVP award in July.
Kalshi listed the award on July 8, but nobody was bidding for most of the event. Every leg was offered at about 27% to 29% against a 0% bid, so the early prints carry no information. Two-sided trading started on the final weekend. The table uses Kalshi hourly closes in ET. Where the last trade sat outside the bid and ask, the midpoint is shown and marked "about".
| Kalshi (ET) | Lendeborg | Meleek Thomas | Cameron Boozer |
| Jul 19, noon (day of the final) | 0% bid, 16% ask | not yet listed | 14% bid, 45% ask |
| Jul 20, noon | 6% | 58% | about 29% |
| Jul 20 close (midnight) | 1% | 54% | 33% |
| Jul 21, 1 pm (last full hour) | 5% | about 45% | 27% |
The wild hour came right after the final. In the hour the final ended, 10 to 11 pm ET on July 19, with Lendeborg named MVP of the championship game, his contract traded as high as 97% and closed the hour at 83%. By midnight ET it was back at 11%. Thomas, a contract added to the board that evening, closed the same hour at 69%.
From then until the close, traders priced the tournament award as a separate question from the championship game award, and priced Lendeborg as a long shot. Thomas was the favorite at most hourly closes, with Boozer ahead at a few of them on July 20. Lendeborg did not close an hour above 9% from 1 am ET on July 20 until the announcement.
The market missed. The winner was a 5% contract an hour before the close. About 62,700 contracts traded on Lendeborg in the hour the result landed.
There is no 2027 Summer League MVP market yet. The nearest live board is the 2026-27 NBA Rookie of the Year odds, where Lendeborg, Boozer, Wilson and Burries all trade. It resolves after the 2026-27 regular season. The tournament itself is covered on the 2026 NBA Summer League champion result page.
For Golden State's season, see the Golden State Warriors 2026-27 playoff odds. The league's top individual award trades on the 2026-27 NBA MVP odds board. More boards are on the NBA hub.
Resolved to the player named 2026 NBA Summer League Most Valuable Player. Under Kalshi's rule, a player's contract resolved Yes if that player won the Pro Basketball Summer League Most Valuable Player award for the 2026 season. A separate Tie/Co-Winners contract covered a shared award. Each contract paid $1 per share on a Yes and $0 otherwise. Kalshi was the only platform carrying the market. The NBA announced Lendeborg as MVP on July 21, 2026. Kalshi closed the market at 1:15 pm ET that day and, at 1:20 pm ET, settled Lendeborg Yes and every other contract, including Tie/Co-Winners, No.
Yaxel Lendeborg of the Golden State Warriors, the No. 11 pick in the 2026 draft, won it. He averaged 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists over six games in Las Vegas.
The NBA announced the award on July 21, 2026. Kalshi, the only venue that listed it, closed the market at 1:15 pm ET that day and settled Lendeborg Yes and every other contract, including Tie/Co-Winners, No.
An hour before Kalshi closed the market, Lendeborg traded at about 5%. Meleek Thomas was the favorite at about 45% and Cameron Boozer was at 27%.
Golden State's title run. Lendeborg had 21 points and 10 rebounds in the 94-90 final win over Memphis on July 19, 2026 and was named MVP of the championship game.
No 2027 Summer League MVP market is listed yet. Lendeborg now trades on the 2026-27 NBA Rookie of the Year board, which resolves after the regular season.