Dorian Finney-Smith is extremely happy about the Brooklyn Nets trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers. At the Lakers’ practice session on Monday, Smith spoke about his delight at getting to play for the “big brother” in Los Angeles after playing for the “little brother” in New York.
“I’m happy I’m here… If you play for Brooklyn, you know what I mean. You don’t want to be the little brother in the city,” Finney-Smith said. “So, I’m finally with the big brothers, so it feels good.”
Finney-Smith was certainly throwing some shade at the Nets there and also at the Los Angeles Clippers. Both have been considered the “little brother” in their city to the New York Knicks and the Lakers respectively. Funny enough, it looked like the Nets and the Clippers were threatening to take over their cities a few years ago, but they failed miserably.
The Nets managed to get one over the Knicks when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving joined them instead of their rivals in 2019. It seemed like the dawn of a new era but it proved to be a false dawn.
The Durant-Irving era lasted less than four seasons and produced just one playoff series win. It ended in 2023 when Kyrie requested a trade and was sent to the Dallas Mavericks. Finney-Smith was sent to the Nets as part of the deal and it’s fair to say he wasn’t all too happy playing for them. It might explain why he wasn’t playing up to expectations at first.
Finney-Smith averaged 8.1 points per game on just 33.7% shooting from three in his first season and a half with the Nets. He defended fairly well, but his outside shot just would not fall at a good clip.
That finally changed this season, as Finney-Smith was averaging 10.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game for the Nets in 2024-25 while shooting 43.5% from beyond the arc. You’d hope for his sake he would keep this up when playing for the “big brother” in Los Angeles after they gave up D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks to get him and Shake Milton.
In Los Angeles, the Lakers are the biggest attraction by far from a basketball standpoint. The Clippers tried to take over during the “Lob City” era and the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era but failed. They never really came close to winning a title, making it to the Western Conference Finals just once.
Just as Finney-Smith felt he was playing for the “little brother,” Clippers players felt that too. George stated he felt like he was on the B-team in Los Angeles when he was with the Clippers.
It’s not too surprising that George felt that way, but he has to take some of the blame for that sentiment still existing, as he and Leonard were supposed to change that. They were going to turn Los Angeles into Clipper Town, but their postseason failures only strengthened the Lakers’ grip on the city.
Finney-Smith will now look to build on that during his time with the Lakers. The 31-year-old could make his debut for his new team on Tuesday at 9 PM ET when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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