Lakers' Adou Thiero Out for NBA Summer League amid Knee Injury Rehab

Los Angeles Lakers second-round pick Adou Thiero will miss the team’s 2025 Summer League games as he continues to rehab from a knee injury, the team announced, per NBA insider Jovan Buha.

The No. 36 pick in this year’s draft is in the recovery stages of a knee injury that dates back to his time at Arkansas and is expected to be fully ready by the team’s training camp, according to Buha.

The 21-year-old averaged 15.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 steals in 27.5 minutes per game during his lone season at Arkansas. He began his college career at Kentucky, where he posted a career-high 7.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game as a sophomore.

Arkansas finished the season 22-14, falling to Texas Tech by two points in the Western Regional semifinals. Theiro came off the bench in that game, logging five minutes.

After the 2025 draft, Lakers president Rob Pelinka praised Thiero as a second-round steal for the team.

“We were super aggressive to begin the day knowing that we didn’t have a first-round pick,” Pelinka said. “Adou was projected by our scouts as a first-round talent and so we were able to turn 55, which is a late-second-round pick, into a high second-round pick to pick a player that we had projected in the first round. So it’s almost like having the first-round pick that we traded out.”

The team and fans alike will have to wait a few more months to see the 6-foot-8 forward in Lakers action.