Lakers rookie could possibly make their debut against Pelicans

RC Nazemi

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Lakers rookie could possibly make their debut against Pelicans image

The Los Angeles Lakers are currently in the midst of an up-and-down five-game road trip that has frankly been more down than up. 

After losing to a vastly injured and inferior Hawks team, handling the Hornets, and suffering their worst loss of the season to the Thunder, I’m sure coming home can’t come soon enough.

More: Brian Windhorst: Lakers ‘can beat anybody’ with healthy LeBron, but not OKC Thunder

LA has two more games during this stretch against the New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks. Even though the team has been without LeBron James, not just on this trip but for the whole season, they may be getting one member of their team back against New Orleans. 

Rookie Adou Thiero could make his season debut 

The Lakers have yet to see any on-court action from their second-round pick, Adou Thiero, outside of some viral clips of him dunking in the practice facility. 

The 6’8 220lb forward out of Arkansas has been recovering from a knee surgery he underwent in the offseason. For the first time this season, Thiero has shown up on the Lakers' injury report as questionable rather than out.

Lakers staff and fans alike have been eagerly anticipating Thiero’s debut, as he was an absolutely electric prospect coming out of college. Jon Calipari was actually quoted on The Pat McAfee Show before the draft, saying: 

Adou Thiero. If anybody misses that, it’s gonna be like they missed on, you ready? Immanuel Quickley… Adou Thiero is a first-round draft pick, and I’m gonna tell you why. The league, I love the physicalness of the league right now, I love it. Because you gotta work to get a basket, it ain’t HORSE anymore. You gotta get, and someone better screen because the guy’s holding like that, I mean, all that stuff. Adou can play in a physical game and athletically be in the top 1%. He’s somebody if you pass on, they’ll look back and say, ‘How many people passed on him?’ He’s that good, and a good kid from Pittsburgh.

 

Adou Thiero is the type of player any team would love to have. He brings a high level of energy and competition, a strong defensive presence fueled by freakish athleticism, and actually started improving his three-ball towards the end of his collegiate career. 

If Thiero can come in and provide a defensive spark similar to what Lakers fans have seen from players like Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt, the Lakers will be an even better team than they are right now. 

 

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