Lakers acquire Adou Thiero’s draft rights as part of historic 7-team trade
The Lakers officially acquired the draft rights of second-round pick Adou Thiero on Sunday as part of a historic seven-team trade.
The transaction that brought Thiero to Los Angeles was headlined by Kevin Durant joining the Houston Rockets and also involved the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns.
The deal had the most teams involved in a single trade in NBA history, beating out the six teams involved in the transaction that sent Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks last offseason.
The seven-team deal revolved around Durant, five other players and a slew of draft picks.
The Lakers selected Thiero with the No. 36 pick in the second round of the NBA draft on June 26 after a pair of draft-day trades. They originally had the No. 55 pick.
Thiero, 21, averaged 15.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game during his junior season with the Razorbacks after spending his first two collegiate seasons at Kentucky. He played for Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer John Calipari for all three years of his college career.
Thiero, who’ll wear No. 1 with the Lakers, won’t participate in the team’s summer league games. He’s in the final stages of his return-to-play process from a left knee ailment he dealt with at Arkansas. Thiero is expected to be fully cleared for training camp.
The Lakers fell to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday as part of the California Classic at the Chase Center in San Francisco before the Miami Heat on Sunday. They’ll face the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (ESPN)
The team will then head to Las Vegas to participate in the league-wide Summer League, with their first game scheduled for July 10 at 5 p.m. PT (ESPN) against the Dallas Mavericks at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The free-agency moratorium ended on Sunday morning, allowing teams to sign players or make transactions they agreed to terms on over the past week.
The Lakers will sign center Deandre Ayton, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, and 23-year-old wing Jake LaRavia.