While the Los Angeles Lakers are a good team and will likely be in the NBA playoffs in a few weeks, they are not a championship contender. The biggest reason they aren’t considered an elite team is their lack of perimeter defense, speed and athleticism.
Some fans have been hoping that rookie forward Adu Tierro will get more playing time and maybe even crack the team’s rotation. His season was interrupted by a recent knee injury, and he played very little playing time while playing for Los Angeles.
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But Tierro has had several impressive performances in the G-League this season. On Sunday, he scored 25 points on 10-for-12 shooting and showed off his athleticism and fluidity in a 113-104 victory over the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Los Angeles head coach J.J. Redick was asked if he hopes to find more playing time for Tiro at the NBA level, and he said it would be difficult to do, according to Daniel Stuckander of Lakers Nation.
“I don’t think he had a summer. He had some health issues, didn’t play, didn’t play in the preseason. So we’re playing catch-up. We had some injuries that gave him some rotation time. But then he got injured again. Durant and I talked at the beginning of the year, and I really felt like, especially not knowing when he was going to be back and healthy, it was probably going to be a development year, especially starting out. So I think we had a good conversation last week about the importance of getting into training and getting into the right habits, and I think he’s been doing really well over the last five games as far as our rotation, I think it’s been tough for our staff, myself, I know I’ve been working hard on at the beginning of the year, but those opportunities really aren’t there right now.”
As Redick mentioned, the expectation should be that Tierro won’t contribute at any point the rest of the season. He may get more playing time in Los Angeles after a blowout, but that’s likely going to be it for the 6-foot-7 forward.
He played just four regular-season games for the G-League South Bay Lakers, who were wary of him because of his recent MCL sprain and another knee injury he suffered before last year’s NBA draft.
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This offseason will be huge for Tiro. Sticking to a strong basketball and conditioning program, as well as performing well in the summer league, will do him a lot of good and might even make him a contributor next season.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick looking for playing time for rookie forward Adou Thiero
