Lakers' Depth Chart Dilemma: Adou Thiero Steps Up After Kuminga Miss
September has arrived, and the Los Angeles Lakers are staring at a depth chart that still doesn’t quite add up.
They chased Jonathan Kuminga. They missed. And now the consequences are everywhere you look.
A Missed Target, A Tighter Squeeze
As Khobi Price reported for the California Post, Kuminga is headed to the Minnesota Timberwolves on a two-year deal, and his decision slices straight into the Lakers’ plans.
His absence isn’t just a whiff in free agency. It leaves a clear, tangible hole in the frontcourt.
The numbers make it worse. The Lakers sit just $8.1 million below the NBA’s $209 million first-apron threshold, already hard-capped for the 2026-27 season. Sixteen players are on guaranteed contracts. The cap sheet is heavy, the flexibility light.
Free agency? Thin. Trades? Complicated, with the asset cupboard close to bare.
They still have needs, especially up front and on the wing, and only a month remains before training camp opens. So where do they turn?
Betting on the Kid
When teams can’t buy or trade their way out of trouble, they often look inward. The Lakers are no different.
That internal bet, at least on the wing, is starting to look a lot like Adou Thiero.
The 22-year-old forward doesn’t arrive with Kuminga’s résumé or polish, but he does bring something the Lakers badly need: size, bounce and a live-wire presence on the perimeter.
Price pointed out the physical parallels. Thiero stands 6-foot-8, 220 pounds. Kuminga checks in at 6-foot-7, 225. Both are explosive, both move with unusual quickness for their size. The gap comes on the offensive end, where Kuminga is “far ahead” in skill and production.
Yet the door Kuminga closed in Minnesota might be the one that opens for Thiero in Los Angeles.
Without Kuminga, there’s now a plausible path for Thiero to sneak onto the fringes of the rotation. On this roster, that’s not a throwaway line. It’s opportunity.
From G League Grind to Playoff Glimpse
Thiero’s story last season barely registered on the national radar, but inside the organization, it mattered.
He spent much of the 2025-26 campaign in the G League. Lower-body injuries slowed him, cost him time, rhythm, and reps. For long stretches, he was a developmental project, not a rotation piece.
Then the season turned, and so did his role.
As Price noted, Thiero finished the year getting consistent minutes in the playoffs. That’s not nothing on a team with veteran expectations. It’s a sign of trust, or at least curiosity.
The real tease came in July.
In summer league action in San Francisco and Las Vegas, Thiero gave Lakers fans the kind of flashes that stick in the mind: high-flying finishes, activity on the glass, defensive possessions where his size and mobility actually changed something.
Price was clear: Thiero is still raw. The development curve is long, and he’s nowhere near a finished product. But the outlines of a useful modern wing are there.
A lob threat. A strong rebounder. A defender who can credibly stand up to bigger forwards.
Those were the exact boxes Kuminga was supposed to check. Now, the Lakers may ask Thiero to grow into them.
A Narrow but Real Path
On a roster short of young, explosive wings, Thiero stands out by default. That’s not his fault. It might be his opening.
Players with his profile have historically thrived next to high-usage offensive creators — the kind of stars who bend defenses and need teammates who can cut, finish, and cover ground. The template is familiar: run the floor, crash the boards, defend in space, live off the gravity of the star.
Thiero isn’t close to starting-caliber yet, and no one inside the building is pretending otherwise. But his energy, his vertical pop, and his willingness to do the dirty work give him a lane into meaningful minutes on a team that doesn’t have many athletes like him.
The Lakers wanted Kuminga to fill that lane. The Timberwolves closed that chapter.
Now the question is simple: with the cap tight, the roster crowded, and the clock ticking toward camp, can a 22-year-old who spent most of last season in the G League grow fast enough to help hold together a contender’s frontcourt?
