3 reasons Adou Thiero could steal the fifth starter spot

Most fans seem to agree that second-year Lakers forward Adou Thiero isn’t quite ready to open the season in the starting lineup.

However, the 2025 second-round draft pick displayed three traits during his brief G League and Summer League stints that suggest he may be less “two years away from being two years away” and closer to being mere months away from permanently stealing LA’s fifth starting spot.

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So, while he almost assuredly will not open the season in the starting lineup, it’s a long season, and Thiero is a young player who could develop fast. If he does, these are the most likely reasons he slides past the competition into that starting lineup.

Superhero athleticism and explosiveness

In Adou’s G League appearances, the bouncy youngster often spotted a driving angle and exploded past his defender with such force and speed that most hapless opponents just fouled him. If he didn’t, he ended up watching Adou swing from the rim.

This pattern repeated throughout the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer League tournaments. Thiero’s combo of elite athleticism and strength also showed up on the backboards. In Vegas, the human pogo-stick often jumped so high to chase a board that it looked like he was using a trampoline, finishing the summer averaging 6.2 rebounds per game.

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Sure, the G League and Summer League aren’t the league. However, athletes with Adou’s size and strength are rare, even in the NBA.

When he steps onto the court, he is almost always the most athletic player. So, if Adou can keep focusing his elite athleticism on defense and rebounding while finding ways to use his explosiveness on offense, he may improve enough to literally and figuratively leap over the competition.

Speaking of improvement…

Rapid improvement

Thanks to an expanded media package, virtually every 2025-26 G League game appeared somewhere last season. Even so, fans didn’t see much of Adou.

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The promising rookie only appeared in 10 games, averaging 22.5 minutes per contest. He also missed his whole rookie-year Summer League. As a result, it was initially hard to get a read on his game.

Sure, the…

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Publish date : 2026-09-19 16:30:00

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