Lakers rookie forward Adou Thiero will be reevaluated in about 2-3 weeks after experiencing improvement with his left knee swelling, the team announced Tuesday afternoon ahead of its preseason game against the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center.
The team added in its statement that Thiero has progressed to on-court activities and will continue to build his strength.
Thiero, whom the Lakers selected out of Arkansas with the No. 36 in June’s NBA draft, has been a modified participant in the Lakers’ practices since training camp started two weeks ago because of the swelling in his knee.
The 6-foot-8, 220-pound Thiero missed most of the latter part of the Razorbacks’ 2024-2025 season after hyperextendeding his left knee in Arkansas’ win over Missouri on Feb. 22. He missed the team’s following eight games, and returned to play only a limited role (five minutes) in the Sweet 16 loss to Texas Tech on March 27. Thiero didn’t play for the Lakers’ summer league team in July.
Coach JJ Redick mentioned after the team’s first practice on Sept. 30 that Thiero had surgery before the team drafted him – which wasn’t publicly disclosed by Arkansas.
“We’ve just got to manage him coming from knee surgery and to be quite frank with you, he was not our player when he had the surgery,” Redick said. “So we did not have control over what he did for the three months after the surgery. So it’s really about playing the long game with him. We look at this year as a developmental year and there’s no reason for us to push his body and create a long-term problem. His knee is in a really good spot, we just want to be really careful.”
Redick said on Saturday that Thiero had participated in “everything” but live play during practices, which Redick didn’t know when Thiero would be able to participate in.
“I know we’re going to really take our time with making sure all of his biomechanics are correct,” Redick said, “so that any swelling that he’s getting in that knee, we can kind of shut that off.”
But even with Thiero being limited with what he can do during practices, he’s still showcased the tantalizing athleticism behind closed doors or when media members are able to observe the end of practices, throwing down thunderous dunks with ease.
“It’s insane,” Redick said of Thiero’s athleticism. “I mean, head at the rim, it’s insane.”
Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart were set to make their preseason debuts against the Suns on Tuesday after sitting out of the team’s first three preseason games.
The plan is for Doncic and Smart to play in two preseason games ahead of the regular-season opener against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21.
Smart, who had been dealing with Achilles tendinopathy, told reporters in Phoenix that he’d play in the 20- to 25-minute range against the Suns.
The Lakers will host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the second night of a back-to-back set, before concluding preseason play against the Sacramento Kings on Friday at Crypto.com Arena.
Redick told reporters Monday that the team was working through who’d be available for the remaining preseason games in light of having three games in four nights.
Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent and Jaxson Hayes were ruled out for the matchup against the Suns. This makes it likely that Friday will be the lone game the Lakers will have a “dress rehearsal” with their full rotation without LeBron James, who’s sidelined to start the season, before the opener against the Warriors.
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