Lakers to acquire No. 36 pick, take Arkansas' Adou Thiero

The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to acquire the No. 36 overall pick in the draft and used it to select Arkansas forward Adou Thiero, per Shams Charania of ESPN.

The 36th pick has changed hands in multiple deals that aren’t yet official, from the Brooklyn Nets to the Phoenix Suns to the Minnesota Timberwolves and now to the Lakers. Minnesota is moving down to No. 45 as part of this deal and acquiring cash from the Lakers as well, according to Charania.

Los Angeles has been rocketing up the second round since the start of the day. The Lakers first traded the No. 55 selection and cash considerations to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for the No. 45 pick, which now is being rerouted to the Timberwolves.

After the Lakers sent out cash to Chicago in that initial exchange, L.A. became hard-capped at the NBA’s second luxury tax apron.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst mentioned during the network’s second-round broadcast that Los Angeles had serious interest in moving up to select Thiero specifically. The Lakers did not have their own first-round pick this season.

The 6-foot-6 swingman enjoyed a breakout junior year at Arkansas. He had transferred there for the 2024-25 season, following a modest role at Kentucky from 2022-24. In his 27 contests with the Razorbacks last season, Thiero averaged 15.1 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.6 SPG and 0.7 BPG.