2025 NBA free agency opened with a collective groan for Los Angeles Lakers fans when Dorian Finney-Smith to the Houston Rockets was reported as one of the first moves. Rob Pelinka had a plan, though, and that vision can be completely justified in the Lakers' first-round series.
Finney-Smith signed a four-year, $52.7 million deal with the Rockets at the start of free agency after failing to come to terms with the Lakers. When Pelinka was unable to get a deal done there, he pivoted to Jake LaRavia immediately. DFS leaving also eventually created an opening to acquire Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart as well.
The latter came at the expense of Jordan Goodwin, which continues to age poorly, but the first part of this equation certainly does not. The Lakers' impressive 107-98 win in Game 1 served as a great example of that.
Finney-Smith was nowhere to be found in the playoff rotation for the Rockets during their loss to open up the series. Meanwhile, the Lakers successfully featured LaRavia, Ayton, and Smart in prominent roles for the win. More of that can put the nail in the coffin over just how right Pelinka was to be cautious of paying up for his former veteran forward.
Beating Rockets would serve as ultimate vindication for letting Dorian Finney-Smith walk
Finney-Smith was an excellent role player for the Lakers in 2024-25. It was understandable why many were initially frustrated with seeing him depart in free agency, especially after Los Angeles attached second-round draft capital to D'Angelo Russell to acquire him.
The defensive versatility, offensive floor-spacing, and close relationship with Luka Doncic made Finney-Smith such a natural fit for the Lakers. The price was just not right.
Clearly, the Lakers knew better about the health of their aging forward too. Finney-Smith's season debut with the Rockets was delayed, and by the time he was ready to play, the contributions displayed a clear drop-off from the player he was in Los Angeles.
Out of the three who can be viewed as a trade-off for letting DFS go, Smart has easily been the most consistent and reliable addition of the trio. The veteran guard has been a great vocal leader, defensive star, and tone-setter for the Lakers.
LaRavia has been no slouch either. Despite struggling with his shooting throughout parts of the season, the young Lakers wing has been an impressive glue guy in other departments for the Lakers.
The Ayton experience has been a rollercoaster throughout the campaign. However, the Lakers center opened up the postseason strong with a 19-point, 11-rebound performance when the team needed that extra scoring punch due to the absences of Doncic and Austin Reaves.
If the Rockets series proves to be one of the highs from the aforementioned rollercoaster with Ayton, the Lakers will certainly take it and write it off as a win with respect to the Finney-Smith situation.
All in all, the Lakers can already feel comfortable with the decision they made during this past offseason. Winning this first-round matchup would just be the cherry on top for Pelinka to confidently hand out an "I told you so" to everyone on the matter.
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