1. A method, comprising: providing a plurality of assist threads configured to process data units received by a network adapter, wherein each of the plurality of assist threads comprises a queue configured to store data units allocated to the respective assist thread; allocating data units received by the network adapter to assist threads in a subset of the plurality of assist threads according to a first function, wherein the subset includes a first assist thread and does not include a second assist thread, of the plurality of assist threads; monitoring the queues of the assist threads in the subset; and upon determining that a count of data units in the queue of the first assist thread exceeds a first threshold, modifying the first function to include the second assist thread in the subset of the plurality of assist threads.