It wasn’t supposed to be this way, man. Dorian Finney-Smith was supposed to be a difference maker for the Houston Rockets.
An impact player, if you will. The Rockets’ brain trust even tabbed Finney-Smith as Dillon Brooks’ replacement. (And we know how valuable he became and how important he was for this Rockets ball club).
And justifiably so. The Los Angeles Lakers viewed him as a potential missing piece. DFS started on a Dallas Mavericks team that went to the Western Conference Finals in 2022 and
averaged 11.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 47.1 percent from the field, 42.6 percent from deep, 61.8 percent effective shooting and 63 percent true shooting during the Mavs’ title chase that year.
Sadly, that feels like forever ago. Frankly, it was forever ago.
Finney-Smith didn’t fare well for the Rockets in his debut season. And that’s being kind.
In fact, a farewell would be a much greater contribution. In all seriousness, Finney-Smith was clearly bothered by an ankle injury that he underwent surgery on last offseason.
His shot looked off (again, that’s being kind) — to the tune of 27 percent from long-range. His mobility was significantly affected, which limited his effectiveness on defense. Finney-Smith even logged DNP-CD’s in the playoffs.
Again, it wasn’t supposed to be like this, man.
Finney-Smith did have a few highlight blocks here and there.
(Okay, maybe just like two, but again, we’re being kind here).
Finney-Smith looked like one of Rockets’ GM Rafael Stone’s worst pickups since his arrival as Houston’s GM and it was a bit perplexing hearing Houston’s end of season presser by Stone and Rockets coach Ime Udoka, as the two stated that they were caught off guard by the amount of time it took for Finney-Smith to rehab and recover from the surgery.
One would think the front office would have done their due diligence on something of that magnitude. Especially since they gave him a four year deal worth $52.7 million, which consumed Houston’s non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
The positive, however, is that Finney-Smith just has one more year of guaranteed salary, which is next season, which gives him valuable on the trade market as expiring salary.
