If there was any doubt a month ago, there is no doubt left now: The Los Angeles Lakers are Luka Doncic‘s team, and the roster from last season’s 53-win outfit has been torn down and rebuilt with supporting Doncic specifically in mind. The team brought in the kind of center–Walker Kessler–who can give Doncic the lob threat he likes so much, as well as protect the rim and make up for some of Doncic’s lapses defensively. They also took chances on the kind of 3-and-D wings (Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, Quentin Grimes) who can spread the floor with their shooting and make things tougher on opposing offenses.
That’s the glass-half-full outlook. A more realistic outlook would note that, apart from Kessler, the Lakers mostly added bench players, some of whom struggled to get on the floor for mediocre teams last year. Thybulle and Williams are minimum-contract veterans–can the lakers really expect them to take a leap in performance?
No, if the Lakers are going to be a surprising team next year, the improvement won’t come from veterans off the bench–it will come from young guys, especially rookie Cameron Carr and second-year man Adou Thiero.
Lakers Got Solid Summers From Adou Thiero & Cameron Carr
Both had positive moments in summer league, Carr from start-to-finish and Thiero only after he dialed back his overheated motor as the summer went on. Thiero, a second-round pick from Arkansas in 2025, clearly wanted to prove himself worthy of a rotation spot, after playing in just 25 games last year.
Thiero averaged 15.4 points and 6.2 rebounds during the summer, though he struggled at the arc, making just two of his 12 attempts. He is 6-foot-7 and has all the tools to be an excellent big defensive wing.
Carr was projected as a possible lottery pick in June but plummeted all the way to No. 24, where the Lakers scooped him up. He was smooth offensively in the summer, and averaged 18.0 points, though he shot just 42.4% from the field and 19.2% from the 3-point line.
But there is an issue for the Lakers: They’ve had a terrible run of developing young players in recent years, with former No. 17 overall pick Dalton Knecht just the most recent example.
Lakers Have X-Factors
Thiero is just 22, and Carr is 21. While the Lakers piled up end-of-bench veterans this summer, getting something more than expected from those two is the team’s best chance at putting together a season that get L.A. into contention.
That’s the view from Lakers beat reporter Jovan Buha. The Lakers could use another wing scorer off the bench, no doubt, and the need a big, defensive minded combo forward who can defend 3s and 4s. Maybe, in Carr and Thiero, the Lakers already have them.
‘TBD’ on Adou Thiero & Cameron Carr
On his podcast this week, Buha pointed to the duo as the “X factors” in the newly constructed Luka Doncic roster: “Really, the X-factors will be Adou and Carr and if one of those guys can really pop. If Adou can really become a fixture in the rotation, his athleticism, his play-making could be a huge boost for the Lakers. Cameron Carr I think moreso is going to be the offensive end, but he could also do some defensive playmaking as well.
“I think there is a lot of TBD, a lot of unknown variables, unproven variables with the Lakers defense, especially in a winning context. All these guys project as bench players right now, not really starters on a team that wants to win a championship. But just because you project one way doesn’t mean you are one way. … Guys like Adou and Carr project more as fringe rotation guys, maybe they’re ready for a bigger role.”
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