One area of need for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason was wing depth, especially after losing Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency.
They helped address it by signing both Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart. The Lakers also traded up to select Adou Thiero out of Arkansas with the 36th overall pick in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Thiero showed a lot of promise during his time in college due to his athleticism and defensive instincts. Despite being a second-round pick, there was optimism that Thiero would be able to come in and contribute right away for the Lakers.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to show off his skills in Summer League due to a knee injury that he suffered in his final season at Arkansas.
The expectation was that Thiero would be ready for training camp though and he appears to still be on track for that, per Dan Woike of The Athletic:
There were definitely some eyebrows raised around the NBA when Thiero missed summer league with a knee issue, but I can finally offer a little optimism (we’re 1,000 or so words in so I probably should). I’ve been told Thiero has been working out in the Lakers’ facility and is expected to be participating once training camp opens at the end of September.
Considering he did not play in Summer League, training camp and the preseason will be big for Thiero to show that he is healthy and ready to play at the NBA level.
If Thiero has a strong preseason then cracking JJ Redick’s rotation to start the season is not out of the equation, especially with him being willing to do the dirty work, which the Lakers coach is known to love.
The Lakers roster lacks athleticism on the wing, so Thiero should get plenty of opportunity to show he can help fill that void.
Rob Pelinka: Lakers had first-round grade on Adou Thiero
The Lakers traded up twice in the 2025 NBA Draft to take Adou Thiero and for good reason as Rob Pelinka revealed they had a first-round grade on him.
“We were super aggressive to begin the day knowing that we didn’t have a first-round pick,” Pelinka said after the draft. “Adou was projected by our scouts as a first-round talent and so we were able to turn 55, which is a late-second round pick to a high second-round pick to pick a player that we had projected in the first round. So it’s almost like having the first-round pick that we traded out.
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