Adou Thiero went from a cautious rookie buried deep in the Lakers’ rotation to one of the few bright spots in their playoff run, and now he is getting his biggest chance yet as Los Angeles faces elimination. The Lakers, down 3-0 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinal series, were set for Game 4 on Monday with Luka Doncic ruled out.
Thiero had logged just 18 total minutes across four playoff appearances before Game 3, but JJ Redick turned to him for additional minutes after Jarred Vanderbilt suffered a gruesome finger injury. On Saturday, Thiero played 13 minutes in the loss and finished with four points, eight rebounds and one assist. He outrebounded every Lakers player on the roster and grabbed three offensive boards, a notable surge for a player who had spent most of the season waiting his turn.
The Lakers traded up to take Thiero with the 36th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, then handled him carefully after offseason knee surgery slowed the start of his year. An MCL sprain sidelined him again in January. Across 25 regular-season appearances, he played 149 total minutes and averaged 1.9 points and 1.1 rebounds per game. He also spent time with the South Bay Lakers, where he made 10 G League appearances and averaged 15.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 block while shooting 60.4% from the field. He made 10 of his 20 three-point attempts there.
Thiero’s sudden emergence comes at a moment when Los Angeles has little margin for error, and it helps explain why the front office has been so patient with his development. Tyler Watts wrote that the Lakers see him as part of their future after putting him in the rotation when Vanderbilt was injured, and said Oklahoma City gained no edge with him on the floor. Watts also described Thiero as the team’s top young talent and argued the Lakers desperately need players like him. That matters even more because Thiero is on a three-year, $5.9 million rookie-scale contract that pays him $2.1 million through the 2026-27 season and includes a $2.5 million team option for 2027-28. Los Angeles is still expected to chase perimeter upgrades this offseason, but Thiero has already given the club a reason to keep him in the picture.
The question now is not whether he can help in spurts. It is whether the Lakers can afford to keep playing him only in flashes when their season is slipping away.
