Veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith is expected to decline his $15.3 million player option and test free agency ahead of the 2025-26 season, spelling bad news for a Lakers team that has major question marks on the defensive end.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, DFS is leaning towards testing the market.
The report comes less than two weeks after Finney-Smith underwent ankle surgery, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. The report added that the surgery would allow the 32-year-old defensive ace “to play pain-free” next season after cleaning up a “lingering ankle injury” that he fought through the las two seasons.
The same injury forced Finney-Smith to miss eight games for the Lakers last season, and another 12 with the Nets before his trade to Los Angeles. In both instances, the teams deemed his absence as “left ankle injury management.”
DFS Will Be Missed by Lakers
Despite playing through an injury, DFS, one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, was a crucial factor in the Lakers’ ranking within the top three in all defensive metrics during the final three months of the 2024-25 season. In the playoff series against the Timberwolves, he held Anthony Edwards to 40% shooting (10-of-25) and Mike Conley to just 25% (2-of-8) while serving as the primary defender.
“Finney-Smith was a valuable “3-and-D” contributor for a Lakers team that finished 11th in team offensive rating and 17th in team defensive rating last season,” McMenamin wrote on June 12.
“He was also a popular locker room presence and a trusted confidant of Luka Doncic, with the two reunited as teammates after both started their careers together with the Dallas Mavericks.”
According to salary-cap expert Yossi Gozlan, the Lakers have the cap flexibility to bring back DFS and still be under the second apron of the luxury tax. As such, they could still prioritize re-signing their key defensive piece.
The Decline-and-Sign Route
In March, The Athletic’s John Hollinger suggested that the Lakers could take the “decline-and-sign” pathway as a way to retain Finney-Smith.
“The idea is that L.A. can get Finney-Smith to decline his player option for $15.4 million for 2025-26 in return for re-signing on a longer deal for less money,” he wrote.
“The risk of overpaying on the back end of the deal (Finney-Smith turns 32 this summer) is offset by managing the immediate tax situation by shaving a few million off his 2025-26 cap number.”
Besides re-signing potential free agents, DFS and LeBron James, the Lakers have a busy offseason ahead. They remain razor-focused on improving their depth at the center position, according to multiple insiders.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka addressed the center issue after the 2025 NBA Draft.
“Coming off the draft, we’ll be digging deep in meetings upstairs just prepping for free agency,” he told Spectrum SportsNet.
“As I said at the end of the year, we know one of the things we have to address is the center position and that’s clearly gonna be one of our focuses as we begin the free agency period. And that’s right around the corner, so we’re just looking forward to putting in the hard work and making sure we take care of all the needs on the roster to give JJ the tools he needs for this team to be great next season.”
The Lakers are expected to explore trades for centers such as Walker Kessler, Nic Claxton, Robert Williams III and Daniel Gafford, while also pursuing Brook Lopez and Clint Capela with their $5.7M taxpayer midlevel exception.
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