One week ago today, the Los Angeles Lakers pulled off a trade that Dallas Mavericks fans were hoping that Nico Harrison would make for months.
Los Angeles sent D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, and Dallas missed their shot at trading for the former fan-favorite wing.
The Mavericks had shown a level of interest in making a move for Finney-Smith before he was traded to the Lakers, and despite missing out on him, they remain focused on adding frontcourt depth, specifically a defensive stopper ahead of the trade deadline next month.
Finney-Smith would have been the perfect fit to play behind P.J. Washington and be Dallas' backup four, but now Mavs fans have to live with seeing him in the purple and gold and playing next to LeBron James at least until the end of this season. This was an outstanding move by the Lakers, as they added one of the most underrated 3-and-D wings in the league without giving up a first-round pick, and Los Angeles is starting to make a realization about Finney-Smith that Mavs fans have known for years.
Lakers are realizing Finney-Smith's impact goes far beyond the stat sheet
Despite having a rough start with the Lakers in which he scored just five points while shooting a combined 2-10 from the field and 1-6 from downtown over his first two games, he bounced back in his third game over the weekend.
In Los Angeles' blowout win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, Finney-Smith finished with eight points and five rebounds while shooting 3-5 from the field and 2-3 from downtown in 23 minutes. So far, Finney-Smith is playing far less with the Lakers than he did with the Nets, but he showed a glimpse of what he can become in the game over Atlanta.
Mavericks fans always knew that Finney-Smith wasn't always going to drop a huge scoring game all the time, but they also knew that his defense was going to be sound. In Finney-Smith's last season with the Mavs before they traded him to the Nets (2022-23), he played in 40 games for Dallas and he scored single-digit points in 24 of these games. He was more likely to score nine or fewer points than he was to score 10 or more, and Mavs fans got used to quiet offensive games towards the end of his tenure in Dallas.
Despite some of these quiet scoring games, his defense and grit were never overlooked. This is what Lakers fans are going to have to learn whether they like it or not, and he is going to be a major difference-maker for Los Angeles moving forward as he continues to get more used to what JJ Redick is looking for out of him.
Even though he is still getting used to the new schemes, Finney-Smith has been excellent defensively for the Lakers, and he is someone who will likely play big minutes down the stretch. His value goes way beyond the stat sheet, as his hustle on the offensive glass has been especially evident since joining Redick's squad.
Finney-Smith has pulled down seven offensive rebounds combined over three games with the Lakers so far, and they desperately needed someone who would do the dirty work considering they are 24th in the NBA in offensive rebounds per game. Lakers fans are quickly learning that every night isn't going to bring a big Finney-Smith scoring performance, but just as Mavericks fans know better than anyone, his impact is going to be louder than the stat sheet will ever show.
