Following yesterday’s report that the Houston Rockets were emerging as a threat to sign free agent forward Dorian Finney-Smith from the Los Angeles Lakers, things have seemingly progressed quite quickly.
A report from Dan Woike at The Athletic indicates that Lakers team sources are expecting to lose Finney-Smith, who declined a player option to make himself a free agent. In particular, Woike cites the Rockets as being Finney-Smith’s destination, which accords with the previous reporting of Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line about Houston’s recent interest.
The Lakers are bracing to lose forward Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency to a multi-year deal with the Houston Rockets, according to team sources.
The loss of a valuable wing like Finney-Smith â and a beloved teammate of DonÄiÄ â will create a void on the perimeter, but his exit will open up a pathway for the Lakers to be aggressive targeting the top available centers in the free agency.
Rockets Doing Business Early
As above, Finney-Smith declined a $15,378,480 player option to enter free agency a year early, despite that amount of salary being entirely commensurate with his production. The 32-year-old nine-year NBA veteran seeks a multi-year deal that will take him through until his mid-30s. And it appears as though this is exactly what the Rockets are going to give him.
Despite free agency not even officially being open yet, the Rockets have already done the bulk of their business. Most significantly, of course, they won the Kevin Durant sweepstakes with the Phoenix Suns. Yet they have also extended veteran center Steven Adams, as well as point guard Fred VanVleet, and already agreed deals to re-sign each of Jae’Sean Tate, Aaron Holiday and Jeff Green. They know their 10-man rotation for next season already, and also most of the deep bench beyond that.
By contrast, the Lakers still have questions to answer. And Finney-Smith’s departure will create another whole in the frontcourt rotation that already needs
Lakers With Work To Do
Given that LeBron James has finally decided to opt into his player option and return to the Lakers – at least, for now – the biggest question facing the Lakers has been answered. That said, they still need a center, they still need a point guard, they still need youth,, they still need depth, they still need improved athleticism, they still need experience – and they will also now need a defensive-minded three-and-D combo forward.
The optimistic belief would be that Finney-Smith can still join the Rockets, but do so via sign-and-trade, with the idea being that the Rockets would go for such a move so as to be able to keep hold of their mid-level exception and be able to make an extra signing. One such idea involves the Lakers receiving back Cam Whitmore, a young two guard deemed surplus to requirements in Houston. To pull this off would be to turn a negative into a small positive.
Whether DFS leaves via free agency or trade, though, it would appear he is leaving either way. If these reports are true, he is to leave the Lakers in order to sign a larger deal and get closer to a championship. Neither will feel good.
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