Austin Reaves Channeling Former Lakers Champion to Mentor Adou Thiero

The Los Angeles Lakers headed into the NBA offseason intent on building around superstar Luka Doncic with younger players and aiming for sustained success in the post-LeBron James era.

Over the summer, longtime general manager Rob Pelinka and the revamped front office were able to accomplish that goal, with only one player in his 30s in veteran center Kevon Looney.

Along with adding promising young players like Cameron Carr (21), Walker Kessler (25), Quentin Grimes (26), Collin Sexton (27) and Sandro Mamukelashvili (27), the team already had one young player that turned heads at times last season and during the NBA Summer League in Adou Thiero (22).

Austin Reaves Channels Rajon Rondo to Help Mentor Adou Thiero

Austin Reaves, who is still pretty young himself at 28, sees the potential in Thiero and has taken on a leadership and mentorship role on this new-look Lakers team, which he learned from two-time NBA champion and former teammate, Rajon Rondo.

Reaves asked Rondo a lot of questions when he was trying to make a name for himself on this Lakers squad, and Thiero appears to be doing the same, so the veteran guard is paying it forward to the second-year player, via LoJo Media.

“He (Thiero) can come and ask me anything, and I learned that from Rondo,” Reaves said. “I asked Rondo a million questions my rookie year, and I feel like that's something he got more comfortable doing this summer. We would talk when we were playing pick-up after every single little game, he would come over, ask me one thing that went on during the game and how he could get better. So, just his ability and want to learn has made him a lot better this summer.”

With LeBron James leaving the team after eight seasons, Doncic and Reaves have become the leaders of this team, and seem to have no problem taking on that responsibility after so many drastic changes for the Lakers during the offseason.

Reaves has no shortage of experience learning from some of the best players to have ever played the game that came through the organization early in his career, like Rondo, James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony.

JJ Redick Praises Adou Thiero’s Desire to Keep ‘Getting Better’

Although Thiero is still very raw and still has a lot to learn, especially when it comes to knowing when to use his incredible athleticism and avoid injury in the process, head coach JJ Redick thinks highly of the 22-year-old.

“This is the longest sustained stretch where he's been able to work and develop and practice and all that stuff,” Redick said of the second-year forward. “So he just continues to get better, and that's what he can control right now is when he is healthy, he's getting better, and he's working.”

As long as Thiero can stay healthy, the future is bright for the Arkansas product as he continues to develop and make a case to crack Redick’s rotation heading into the 2026-27 NBA season.

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