This is one of those situations where I genuinely cannot understand how the consensus seems to completely ignore a prospect, despite that prospect obviously being an NBA level talent. This is the case for Adou Thiero, who is having an awesome season for Kentucky. If you’re not the type to watch CBB games, then I can understand why you wouldn’t know who Adou is or why he wouldn’t stand out to you. He doesn’t put up the most impressive counting stats. However, this almost certainly due to his situation. He is playing on a team where he is the 5th scoring option on a good day. He isn’t getting many opportunities to score, and that’s not his role anyway. I’m not saying that if he was the #1 option he’d average 20 points per game, but I am certain that he would be putting up much more impressive statistics if he was. Regardless, there is no reason for the consensus to completely ignore Adou Thiero and often not even rank him on their big boards. Let me explain why.
Adou legitimately might be Kentucky’s most important player right now. That title probably belongs to Antonio Reeves, but Kentucky just doesn’t function as well without Adou, especially on defense. Adou is honestly one of the best defenders in this draft class, maybe even the best outside of the obvious top 2 (Sarr and Dunn). The thing with him id how versatile he is. On one play you’ll see Adou out on the perimeter switching onto guards and wings alike, doing his best to get a stop. On the next play, he will be around the paint waiting to reach in for a steal or send a shot into the stands with a block. This is the type of defender he is. He is so versatile and is so skilled in basically every aspect you could want defensively out of a wing.
He isn’t as exciting offensively, but he still is very solid and has the potential to be a lot better if he gets into the NBA. He thrives as a cutter and connector, making solid passes consistently and cutting to the basket for easy layups and dunks. It isn’t the most exciting thing to watch, but he plays really well in his role and has an impact in that way. I think he has some sneaky potential as a driver and finisher. He already is a pretty good driver, and if he can get his handle a little bit more under control than he could be really hard to stop when he takes off.
The biggest questions about Adou lie within his shot, and there are some valid concerns here. The percentages aren’t great and he hasn’t had the opportunity to take a lot of 3s, so we haven’t really seen a big sample size of what his shot looks like. I think he could get to around league average one day, but anyone who drafts him does need to worry about how his jumper looks.
Despite some limitations as a shooter, Adou still managed to have a major impact every time he steps out onto the court, whether it’s with his defensive playmaking, connective passing, or finishing ability. He has all the skills and tools to be an impactful NBA player one day, yet you don’t even see him on most big boards during this cycle. I think this can be attributed both to him not having super impressive stats and playing on the same team as other high level prospects. However, I think it is about damn time people started to realize the Adou Thiero is absolutely a 1st round caliber prospect. He is a guy who can absolutely find a role on an NBA team because of his defense, and on the right team could become a starter in the future. He is too good defensively to be ignored, and has enough upside on offense to have starter potential in the NBA. Whether you buy into that potential on offense or not determines how high you could have him on your board, but regardless of that he should be a consensus first round prospect at this point. He is too talented to be much lower than that.