There is a lot to like about Adou Thiero as he was by far the most athletic player on the Los Angeles Lakers roster during his rookie season.
The Lakers don’t have many prospects in the pipeline, but Thiero represents one of the few that could pan out for the parent roster. His jumping ability sticks out, but he’s also shown flashes of being a quality defender who can stick on the perimeter and block shots at the rim.
However, Thiero’s rookie season was a rollercoaster as he struggled to stay healthy. He missed the beginning of the 2025-26 season due to an offseason knee procedure and then later suffered an MCL sprain.
Jarred Vanderbilt can empathize with Thiero as they have similar stories and he spoke to the difficulties that the rookie has gone through, via Benjamin Royer of the Southern California News Group:
“It’s definitely tough,” said Vanderbilt, now 26 years old and in his fourth season on the Lakers. “Sometimes it’s hard to see the bigger picture right then and there – I did the G League for three years, up and down. Been traded as well. It’s all a part of the process. Sometimes you got to go through that – especially not being a high first-round pick or lottery pick – being able to grind from the bottom and really put in the work and make it up here.”
However, Vanderbilt was quick to praise Thiero for how he’s handled things and continued to develop as a player despite the lack of reps:
“He’s done a good job staying with it, the process of him going up and down,” Vanderbilt said of Thiero. “He’s been embracing the process, learning from it, and being able to showcase his strengths, while also being willing to develop his stuff he’s not so good at right now, so, yeah, he’s made great progress over the year.”
Shuffling back and forth between the Lakers and the G League could be a frustrating process for any rookie, but Thiero did well with the things he can control as he plays with maximum effort whenever he sees the floor. Thiero wasn’t much of a factor in his first year, but the future looks bright if he can continue to build on whatever experience he gets.
Marcus Smart reveals advice to Adou Thiero
The transition from college to the NBA can be jarring for prospects like Adou Thiero, who go from the star of their own team to hardly seeing action. Marcus Smart has taken it upon himself to mentor Thiero and he revealed the advice he gave the young rookie.
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