While the Charlotte Hornets floundered through another lost season, they acquired a bunch of temporary players on 10 day contracts and two-way deals. Just about all of those players fit into generally the same archetype–a high motor defender with a raw offensive skill set. While I’m sure the front office would prefer that those players have more to contribute on offense, it does signal that the defensive side of the ball is what they’re most concerned with. As they look towards the second round of the draft, they’ll probably target a similar type of player. One potential option is Adou Thiero out of Arkansas.
**Height:** 6’6.25″
**Wingspan:** 7’0″
**Reach:** 8’8.5″
**Weight:** 218.4 pounds
**Defense, driving ability**
Whichever team ends up drafting Thiero is going to do so because of the combination of his defense and athleticism. He didn’t test athletically at the combine, but his burst and vertical both pop on the court. He comes out of nowhere for blocked shots as a help side defender and is quick enough off the floor to get a decent number of blocks as the primary defender. He has a quick first step and nose for getting into passing lanes. He’s a little bit of a gambler, but he wreaks havoc on the defensive side of the floor. He’s strong and long enough to bother bigger offensive players and has the foot speed to keep up with smaller guards.
His athleticism shines on the offensive end as well. He’s an effortless dunker that can rise up in traffic and with little space to throw the ball down. He has an unusual preference for jumping off his right foot even though he’s a right handed player, but that probably works to his benefit as it makes it harder for defenders to time his strides. He’s a bully with the ball in his hands that draws a ton of fouls. The outside shot is a work in progress, but it doesn’t look terrible and he was actually a pretty good shooter from mid range.
**Shooting/scoring**
Thiero is a tremendous prospect on the defensive side of the ball, but teams are likely going to be very skeptical of how much he’ll be able to contribute on offense. He doesn’t take many threes and he shoots them at a very poor percentage. He shot his highest number of threes per game in his third and final collegiate season (1.6) but shot the lowest percentage (25.6%). The free throw shooting hasn’t been all that encouraging as well. The form looks workable, which almost makes the lack of production even more concerning. He just might not be wired to shoot threes.
Almost 30% of Thiero’s scoring in his junior season came at the free throw line. He earned those free throws more with brute force and athleticism than ball handling savvy. It’s fair to question how much this part of his game will translate against better NBA athletes who aren’t respecting his jump shot.
He isn’t a good bet to bring anything to the offensive side of the floor outside of transition and garbage collection buckets. He’s not a negative as a passer, but he’s not a shot creator and his handle limits him as well.
The Hornets like athletic defensive guys, and Thiero fits that bill. A couple of mocks have had him going to the Hornets near the top of the second round, and he would be a very good get. At the very least, he’d be a reasonable facsimile of what Josh Okogie brought to the team last season. And it’s not impossible that the offensive game comes around. He’s been on a steep improvement arc throughout his college career, going from 2.3 to 7.2 to 15.1 points per game season over season. [According to Bart Torvik](https://barttorvik.com/playerstat.php?link=y&year=2025&kw=thiero&start=20241101&end=20250501), he made nearly 50% of his mid range jumpers on decent volume. There’s some offensive talent in there somewhere. If it manifests in the NBA, he could be an absolute steal wherever he gets picked.
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