Second-year Lakers forward Adou Thiero has most fans thinking he isn’t quite ready to open the season in the starting lineup. You hear a lot of chatter about him being “two years away from being two years away.” But this 2025 second-round pick? He just showed off serious, undeniable flashes in his G League and Summer League stints that are screaming he’s actually way closer to permanently stealing LA’s fifth starting spot. It’s a long season, and this young player could develop incredibly fast.
Pure Athletic Juice
Alright, so let’s talk about the pure athletic juice this kid brings. In his G League appearances, Adou was unreal. He’d spot a driving angle, then *boom*, it was over. He exploded past defenders with such force and pure speed that opponents just had to foul him. If not, they were watching him swing from the rim, wondering how he just did that. This wasn’t a fluke either; this pattern repeated through the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer League. That combo of elite athleticism and sheer strength also popped off the screen on the backboards. In Vegas, this dude was a legit human pogo-stick, jumping so high for rebounds it looked like he was using a trampoline! He ended up averaging a super solid 6.2 rebounds per game. Yeah, G League and Summer League aren’t the main show, but athletes with Adou’s insane size and strength are rare, even in the actual NBA. When he steps on the court, he’s almost always the most athletic player out there. If he keeps channeling that elite athleticism into defense and crashing the glass, all while finding more ways to use that explosiveness on offense, he’s absolutely going to literally and figuratively leap over the competition for that starting role. No doubt.
Unexpected Boosters and Raw Talent
And here’s the kicker: this kid improves unbelievably fast. Thanks to the expanded media package last season, we saw pretty much every 2025-26 G League game. Even with that access, we didn’t see a ton of Adou. The promising rookie only played in 10 games, just 22.5 minutes per contest, and on top of that, he missed his entire rookie-year Summer League. So yeah, initially, it was super hard to get a real read on his game. But one thing was always clear: the explosiveness. It felt like rookie Adou would throw down a thunderous dunk in the first few plays of every single game he entered, just to remind you what he was capable of. Then there’s the three-point shooting, which totally caught me off guard. He actually looked like a completely viable shooter last year, draining a ridiculous 10 of his 20 attempts in those 10 G League appearances! That’s a 50% clip, folks! Even with those amazing flashes, he still looked raw, like he needed a few more years to truly harness that superhero frame and all his incredible abilities. Then the 2026 Summer League arrived and…
The Chase for the Fifth Spot
So, while he almost certainly won’t be in the starting lineup on opening night, the whispers are getting louder, and the tape doesn’t lie. It’s a long season, remember, and Thiero is exactly the kind of young player who develops at warp speed. If he keeps this up, that fifth starting spot isn’t just a dream, it’s a real possibility he’s aggressively chasing. Keep an eye on this kid, because the potential is absolutely off the charts. I’m hyped to see him push for it.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Silver Screen and Roll.
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