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Lakers rookie Adou Thiero has gone back and forth from the G-League and NBA with Bronny James this season struggling to get minutes this year.
The Los Angeles Lakers don’t have a recent history of finding gems in the NBA Draft, and while that could change with new hire Tony Bennett, for now, rookie Adou Thiero is facing the reality that the team doesn’t have time to develop its young players.
Thiero, who has been injured for much of the year, has only played in 18 games for the Lakers this season. However, he, alongside 2024 draft pick Bronny James, was recalled from the G-League South Bay Lakers for the team’s Sunday night game against the Sacramento Kings. The two have spent a lot of time this season together, as Los Angeles has moved them both back and forth from the NBA to the G-League on numerous occasions.
But for now, Thiero continues to spend most of his time with the South Bay team, while James has seen a lot more NBA action this year. While he might not want that, the rookie forward said he knows what he has to do to get a full-time shot with the Lakers.
“I’m just going out there, keep getting comfortable with the game, the pace, just trying to work on things that I need to develop and be better at,” Thiero said, according to Benjamin Royer of the Orange County Register. “Just trying to get 1% better every day, just keeping that mindset and just knowing that … there’s a bigger picture. So just making sure I’m ready for that day, when that day comes.”
For the Lakers this season, Adou has averaged 2.2 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists on 39.7% shooting in 7.2 minutes per game. He’s been injured multiple times this year, but has put in some strong performances in the G-League so far.
Lakers Player Speaks On Rookie Adou Thiero
Though injuries could be a cause for the rookie Thiero’s lack of playing time, the team’s title hopes, regardless of how strong or realistic, could be another reason why he hasn’t gotten the opportunity to show his potential as much as he’d hoped.
However, speaking as someone with experience of the brutal nature of the NBA, Lakers’ fourth-year wing Jarred Vanderbilt had a lot to say about Thiero and his situation.
“It’s definitely tough,” Vanderbilt said. “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.”
Vanderbilt did eventually land a full-time spot in the NBA, previously on the Minnesota Timberwolves before joining the Lakers. However, while Thiero is still fighting for a full-time roster spot early in his career, the 26-year-old believes the rookie is taking the right steps.
“He’s done a good job staying with it, the process of him going up and down,” Vanderbilt added 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.”
While he has been in and out of the Lakers’ full-time lineup, the rookie Thiero has had some standout performances in the G-League alongside James, but has yet to gain the trust of head coach JJ Redick with consistent NBA minutes.
Lakers New Hire Of NBA Draft Analyst Tony Bennett Could Help Fix The ‘Adou Thiero-Type Problem’
As mentioned, the Lakers do not have a strong recent history of turning draft picks into major contributors on their team. Players that the team chose to move away from have, but as it relates to the past few years, Los Angeles pales in comparison to a team like the Oklahoma City Thunder regarding their draft analysis.
However, now under new ownership that has already made a few major internal changes, the Lakers recently hired former NCAA head coach Tony Bennett as their newest NBA Draft Analyst. Bennett has a strong history of putting college basketball players in the league, is a three-time National Coach of the Year award winner, and is a national champion.
“We’re thrilled and honored to welcome Tony as an advisor to the Lakers basketball operations department,” general manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “Tony will be an incredible asset to our basketball leadership, to our scouts and to our draft department as a whole. We are truly excited.”
With his hiring, the Lakers can expect to have a bit more stability as it relates to who they select out of the draft.
Writing for LakeShowLife.com, Quinn Everts is hopeful Bennett can help turn around the Lakers’ recent poor draft history.
“This team has acquired stars over the past decade simply because they’re the Los Angeles Lakers. That’s never been an issue. But building out the roster around those stars has been an issue, and a huge part of that issue stems from the lack of attention paid to the draft,” he wrote.
“Maybe the Lakers won’t immediately start finding hidden gems in the draft because they hired Tony Bennett. But they can’t be much worse at drafting than we’ve seen over the past five-plus years, so… Can’t hurt!”
Though not a guarantee, especially if the Lakers continue to put themselves in championship contention, perhaps adding Bennett as a draft analyst will give the team a bit more stability as it relates to draft picks and rookies, hopefully minimizing the types of situations a player like Thiero finds himself in now.
Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski