The Lakers have agreed to acquire the No. 36 overall pick in the draft from Minnesota and used it to select Arkansas forward Adou Thiero, per Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The 36th pick has changed hands in multiple deals that aren’t yet official, from the Nets to the Suns to the Timberwolves and now to the Lakers. Minnesota is moving down to No. 45 as part of this deal and acquiring cash from the Lakers as well, according to Charania (Twitter link).
Los Angeles has been rocketing up the second round since the start of the day. The Lakers first traded the No. 55 selection and cash considerations to the Bulls in exchange for the No. 45 pick, which now is being rerouted to the Timberwolves.
After the Lakers sent out cash to Chicago in that initial exchange, L.A. became hard-capped at the NBA’s second luxury tax apron.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst mentioned during the network’s second round broadcast that Los Angeles had serious interest in moving up to select Thiero specifically. The Lakers did not have their own first-round pick this season.
The 6’6″ swingman enjoyed a breakout junior year at Arkansas. He had transferred there for the 2024/25 season, following a modest role at Kentucky from 2022-24. In his 27 contests with the Razorbacks last season, Thiero averaged 15.1 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.6 SPG and 0.7 BPG.
Adou was a classmate of my son at two high schools in the Pittsburgh suburbs. Good kid.
Aww rad!!
So that the new inside help for Luka??
More like replacing last years 2nd round pick.
This will be the starter when Luka and LeBron are injured. Next year the Lakers will be picking in the low 30s for the second round.