It’s the middle of the offseason, but we’ve gotten some good news on Lakers rookie Adou Thiero.
While Thiero has taken pictures in a Lakers uniform, the rookie hasn’t played in a game yet donning the purple and gold jersey.
He was ruled out of Summer League action before it even began due to a left knee injury. This is the same injury that kept him out for an extended period during his final year at Arkansas.
For fans concerned that the team’s new prospect has an injury that will continue to bother him, they can now breathe a sigh of relief.
In a recent mailbag article, Dan Woike of The Athletic wrote that Thiero is expected to be ready to play at the start of training camp.
I’ve been told Thiero has been working out in the Lakers’ facility and is expected to be participating once training camp opens at the end of September.
Thiero missing Summer League was a bummer, but being ready for training camp is far more important. This allows Thiero to get all the reps possible with the Lakers and prepare to hit the ground running during his rookie campaign.
The Lakers selected Thiero at the No. 36 spot in this year’s NBA Draft and moved up twice to acquire him. He’s considered an athlethic wing and is the kind of explosive player that can shine alongside Luka Dončić.
At Arkansas, Thiero averaged 15.1 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting 54.5% from the field. He was also a defensive irritant, averaging 1.6 steals per game.
His head coach, John Calipari, was clearly fond of Thiero. When Calipari left Kentucky for Arkansas, he took Thiero with him.
Right before the NBA Draft, Calipari went on “The Pat McAfee Show” and was boisterous about how good a player Thiero would be for whatever team selected him.
Now, Thiero is a Laker and head coach JJ Redick will have all of training camp with his rookie healthy and ready to go. Hopefully, this is the end of his left knee issues and Thiero impresses as much in training camp as he did at the collegiate level.