The Los Angeles Lakers announced that 2025 second-round draft pick Adou Thiero won’t participate in the team’s summer league games, per the team due to a left knee injury. He’s in the final stages of his return to play process from a knee ailment he dealt with at Arkansas and is expected to be fully cleared for training camp.
This is obviously a bummer for Lakers fans that wanted to see Thiero play in the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer Leagues, but it’s certainly understandable for the team to hold him out. If Thiero is still nursing a knee injury, there’s no reason to play in Summer League and risk a potential setback that would keep him out of training camp, the preseason and perhaps even the regular season.
The Lakers are expected to kick off California Classic play on Saturday and among the players that could be in the lineup are Bronny James and Dalton Knecht, who recently confirmed he is planning to play. The team also recently added some undrafted free agents to the mix, and former NBA players Cole Swider and Darius Bazley were also seen at practice on Wednesday so presumably will be playing.
Once the Lakers get to Las Vegas, they have a loaded schedule, including opening things up against top pick Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, July 10. With Flagg expected to play some point guard against the Lakers, it would have been fun to see what Thiero could do as his primary defender. The Lakers and Mavericks will square off again in Las Vegas in the preseason this October, however, so perhaps it will happen then.
Adou Thiero models his game after top defenders
Adou Thiero is known for his defense and the Lakers draft pick recently revealed that he models his game after OG Anunoby and Jrue Holiday.
“I watch a lot of defenders. Trying to pick up on what they do in the league, that’s a different level,” Thiero said after being drafted. “It’s a lot of different stuff offensive players do in the league, so just trying to pick up off of OG Anunoby, Jrue Holiday, he’s a great defender. Just picking up on what they do, watching how they play defense.”
If Thiero can defend anywhere close to the levels of Anunoby and Holiday then the Lakers will have found themselves a steal in the second round of the draft.
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