The Los Angeles Lakers completed the acquisition of Dorian Finney-Smith from the Brooklyn Nets earlier today, sending D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks to land Smith and backup guard Shake Milton. Dorian has been a highly coveted forward on the trade market all season, and the Lakers have beaten West rivals to acquire him.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick must be over the moon, with an old podcast clip resurfacing where he’s highlighting his fandom of Dorian.
“The one guy I have to shout out because I love watching him play and he does so many things that don’t show up in the box score – that’s Dorian Finney-Smith. DoeDoe is an awesome player who can fit on any team in the NBA, I think he’s incredibly valuable, a great defender, hustles, and makes all the right plays.”
JJ was always a fan of Dorian Finney-Smith. They were teammates briefly and DFS clearly made an impression on him. Talked about him a lot on the podcast. pic.twitter.com/3qbFyZVvSd
— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) December 29, 2024
Redick also has a post on X from 2022 about his fandom of Finney-Smith.
“How can u not love DFS?”
This is an incredible development for the Lakers, as Finney-Smith is averaging 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds this season on 43.5% from three. He’s one of the best 3-and-D wings in the NBA and this is a huge acquisition for the Lakers, who can reinforce two key areas of their roster with Dorian.
His shooting and defensive ability will be a game-changer for the Lakers, but it might not move the needle enough to make them contenders.
Redick and Finney-Smith were teammates for half a season on the Dallas Mavericks in 2021, with Redick retiring at the end of that season. Dorian would stay with the Mavericks until February 2023 when the franchise traded him alongside Spencer Dinwiddie for Kyrie Irving.
This will be the third team of Finney-Smith’s career as the 31-year-old forward spent seven seasons as an undrafted discovery by the Mavericks before spending the last two seasons with the Nets. He played a crucial role in the Mavericks’ 2022 Western Conference Finals run, so the Lakers will pray he brings the same winning touch to them this season.
Redick has been a fan of Finney-Smith and will employ the forward whenever he’s available. He’s a multi-positional defender who could even be a legitimate small-ball five if required. He has recorded the most matchups across guards, forwards, and centers this season. He can be effective as a POA or as a help defender, which would make him a weapon on the court alongside Anthony Davis.
This move reinforces the Lakers’ recent reputation as a defensive team. The franchise has gone 6-2 in its last eight games. Dorian will add shooting touch as well, but he’s not a self-creating option offensively and will need players like LeBron James to feed him in the right spots for corner threes.
Dorian will likely make his debut in the Lakers clash against the best team in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to end the year.
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