Lakers rookie Adou Thiero will start the new year with another injury.
On New Year’s Eve, the Lakers reported that Thiero has been diagnosed with a right MCL sprain. He will be re-evaluated in approximately four weeks.
This is another unfortunate setback for the rookie.
Thiero spent all of the summer recovering from a knee surgery, forcing him to miss all Summer League
action as well as training camp and preseason.
He made his NBA debut on Nov. 15 against the Pacers and has remained available since. Now, he finds himself back on the injury report for an extended period of time.
The plus for the Lakers is that since he is an end-of-the-bench guy, it doesn’t really affect their odds of winning games. Thiero will have zero outside pressure to return quickly and can fully focus on his health.
Since he will be re-evaluated in about four weeks, it’s safe to say he will not be playing in January and we’ll have to see if he can return sometime during February.
While Thiero currently plays limited minutes during garbage time, he is an exciting, athletic prospect on a team that lacks youth and explosive players.
If he can continue to develop, Thiero can be a player who cracks the rotation and contributes to a winning team. For now, getting healthy is his top priority, and it’ll be a month or more before he can play basketball in 2026.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
