The Los Angeles Lakers surprised the NBA world by trading for Dorian Finney-Smith on Sunday.
The Lakers sent D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three future second-round picks in 2027, 2030, and 2031 to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Finney-Smith and Shake Milton.
The now-former Brooklyn Net is going from a rebuilding team to a franchise that has LeBron James and Anthony Davis on its roster. Despite not having many championship expectations this season, Finney-Smith will be getting a massive step up in attention compared to what he has been.
Dorian Finney-Smith Takes Shot At Brooklyn Nets
Finney-Smith is also leaving a team that is a distant second in terms of relevancy in its own city. Now he gets the opportunity to play for the “it” team in Los Angeles because everyone knows that the purple and gold rule the City of Angels.
“I’m happy I’m here. If you play for Brooklyn, you know what I mean. You don’t want to be the little brother in the city. So, I’m finally with the big brother, so it feels good,” Finney-Smith said.
Throughout James’ career, there has been a certain type of role player that has worked with him and Finney-Smith fits that description perfectly. At 6 ‘7, he brings good defensive versatility at the wing and is having the best three-point shooting year of his career by averaging 43.5% from beyond the arc this season.
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The 31-year-old will bring a lot of experience but isn’t over the hill like several of the players the Los Angeles Lakers have tried to put around James and Davis over the past few years.
He also has played with the player whose game is most similar to James in Luka Doncic when he was on the Dallas Mavericks. Finney-Smith was a key role player for the Mavericks in his last full season with the team in the 2021-22 season when they made the Western Conference Finals.
While Laker fans will be hoping the front office can still land a big man before the trade deadline, this move certainly helps improve the team.