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The Los Angeles Lakers have a new weapon after making an attention-grabbing move recently to acquire versatile forward Dorian Finney-Smith via a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. For the veteran forward, going from the Nets to the Lakers is a welcome development for a number of reasons.
For one, he won't be playing for a “little brother” franchise anymore, as the Nets are always viewed from that perspective with respect to the existence of the New York Knicks.
“But I'm happy I'm here, I'm not, I don't want to say that because, but if you play for Brooklyn, you know what I mean, you want to be the little brother in the city. So I'm fine with the big brotherhood, so that feels good,” Finney-Smith told reporters on Monday (h/t Stefan Bondy of the New York Post).
What will Dorian Finney-Smith's impact be on the Lakers?
Finney-Smith gives the Lakers someone who can play the 3-and-D role while adding depth to Los Angeles' banged-up frontcourt. At the moment, Los Angeles is missing the likes of Jaxson Hayes, Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood due to injuries. Vanderbilt and Wood have yet to even play a game in the 2024-25 NBA regular season. With Finney-Smith, the Lakers have someone who can shore up the team's frontcourt and perimeter defense, thanks to his ability to cover multiple positions.
One area where Finney-Smith can make a big impact is on the Lakers' outside shooting. So far in the NBA 2024-25 campaign, the Lakers are just 27th in the league with an average of 11.8 three-pointers made per game. Finney-Smith, on the other hand, projects to be a solid weapon for the Lakers' playmakers, primarily LeBron James, who is well known for his penchant for finding shooters on offense.
Before he got traded to the Lakers, Finney-Smith averaged 10.4 points and shot 43.5 percent from deep with the Nets this season. He is also making 43.3 percent of his catch-and-shoot attempts from behind the arc. That sounds terrific for the Lakers, who are third-worst in the league in that area with only 8.3 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers per game.
The 31-year-old Finney-Smith can make his Lakers debut as soon as this Tuesday when Los Angeles hosts the Cleveland Cavaliers in Tinseltown.
