Two things are true at the same time about the Lakers.
- They are a very good team
- They have very clear and glaring flaws
They’ve won at a high rate, but the losses have followed a similar formula that has exposed their weaknesses. In effect, if a team is capable of exploiting
the Lakers’ weakness, then the purple and gold are hopeless in their attempts to win.
That means a shakeup of some sort is needed. It could be external in the way of a trade, though that likely isn’t happening until Dec. 15 at the absolute earliest. It could also mean internal change via a shift in the rotation.
At practice on Friday, head coach JJ Redick acknowledged that possibility. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If the Lakers are losing the same way, it’d be insane to keep the status quo.
What could those changes in the rotation be? Well, it could lead to more minutes for Adou Thiero. Prior to Wednesday’s loss, Redick spoke about the Lakers’ second round draft pick, who saw minutes during the team’s recent road trip due to injury.
“We’re just going to look for opportunities to get him minutes,” Redick said. “I think he’s had some good three to four minute runs and some three to four minute runs where he looks like a rookie and that’s OK. We’re also going to continue to use South Bay for him to get reps.”
Thiero is not going to solve all of the Lakers’ issues if he does play. But the team is at such an athleticism and speed deficit each game that it can’t hurt to play him more. The regular season is for building chemistry and winning games, but it’s also for experimenting and trying to find solutions to problems.
There’s a real and very likely chance that Thiero has too many flaws in his game to be a serious contributor. But there’s also a chance that he can help the Lakers overcome their disadvantages enough to start picking up wins against the smaller, quicker teams.
Phoenix could be a good case study to try Thiero more. He did not feature in the recent game between the two sides and the Suns exposed every bit of the purple and gold’s weaknesses. Again, Thiero won’t step in, fix all the problems and lead the Lakers to a win.
But the team is in need of some solutions and Thiero represents one of the possible answers.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
