Luka Doncic praises Adou Thiero’s ‘insane’ improvement
This season, for the first time in years, the Los Angeles Lakers appear to have ample depth at the wing and forward positions. One reason is second-year man Adou Thiero, who didn’t play much last season due to injury but is thought to have some real potential.
Thiero, who is 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, has a seven-foot wingspan and a vertical leap of at least 41 inches. He’s considered the best natural athlete on the Lakers’ roster, and he has shown an ability to get to the basket off the dribble, draw fouls and help out on the boards.
He had a promising showing at the Las Vegas summer league in July, and coach JJ Redick said during a press conference in late September that he had an "unbelievable last two months of development." Luka Doncic seems to also think that Thiero has come a long way this summer, based on what the superstar said during Media Day.
“I think there’s a lot of underrated guys in our group,” Doncic said in an interview with ESPN 710 L.A. “I can’t name one specifically, but our new signings, I think they’re very underrated and they’re going to help us a lot. But what I saw from Adou, like you said, this year and the improvement is insane. So, I’m very excited for him.”
Thiero’s development was interrupted last season due to injury problems. But as summer league went on this year, he started to show more discipline while driving to the hoop, and he also looked fairly impressive on defense. He averaged 15.4 points on 55.3% field-goal shooting, six rebounds and 1.8 steals in 25.8 minutes a game during summer league play in July.
If he does a better job of finishing when he gets to or near the rim and starts hitting outside shots often enough to keep opposing defenses honest, perhaps he will get a solid amount of playing time and even push for a starting role at some point.
This article originally appeared on Lakers Wire: Luka Doncic praises Adou Thiero’s ‘insane’ improvement
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