Dorian Finney-Smith was a top offseason acquisition for the Houston Rockets. Following point guard Fred VanVleet’s ACL tear at preseason training camp, Finney-Smith is anticipated to miss games at the beginning
of the season while he recovers from ankle surgery. This is another blow to the Rockets’ depth.
In order to treat a persistent issue that he said had plagued him for the previous two years, veteran wing Finney-Smith, who departed the Lakers and signed with the Rockets in free agency, underwent surgery on his left ankle in June. Finney-Smith stated during Monday’s Rockets media day that he was running and will be ready “soon,” but he did not provide a return date.
Finney-Smith will “probably not” be ready for the season start on October 21, according to Rockets coach Ime Udoka, who stated on Wednesday that Finney-Smith is cleared for restricted on-court exercises.
Udoka stated, “No contact, but doing all the shooting and other things with treatment as well during practice,” adding that he does not know how many games Finney-Smith would miss.
Finney-Smith claimed that by trying to play through the ailment, he made it worse.
“I probably made the injury worse because my nut-ass don’t want to sit down, excuse my language,” added the man. “I may need to be rescued from myself. And I’d probably be in a better place now if someone had told me to relax two years ago. But, as a hard-nosed guy, that’s what brought me here, so sometimes the things that bring you to this point can also cause you pain. I’m discovering that sometimes it’s important to pay attention to your body.”
After hitting a career-high 41.1% from beyond the arc while playing for the Mavericks and the Lakers, Finney-Smith was brought in to help the Rockets, who finished as one of the league’s worst three-point shooting teams the previous season. However, Houston now faces the possibility of starting the season without Finney-Smith and VanVleet, two of its best perimeter shooters and defenders. This would further limit the ability of guys like Reed Sheppard, Kevin Durant, and Jabari Smith Jr. to give a shooting boost.
The Rockets are also managing the workloads of center Steven Adams and forward Tari Eason. Neither played in back-to-back games during the regular season while recovering from surgery, Adams on his right knee and Eason on his lower left leg. The Rockets’ first set of back-to-back games isn’t until Dec. 5 and 6, but Udoka said that early on, the team might be cautious about playing Adams and Eason on consecutive nights.
The news is not all bad, though, as in the short term, Finney-Smith’s injury does open up more playing time for Smith, who was set to compete with Finney-Smith during training camp for a starting spot. It also clears a path to increased minutes for Eason, and further down in the rotation for Jeff Green and Jae’Sean Tate. Less clear is who will replace VanVleet in the starting lineup, and whether Udoka will prioritize length or another ball handler to play alongside Amen Thompson.
Smith started the first 33 games of the 2024-25 season for the Rockets, but then broke his hand and came off the bench for the remainder of the season. Smith said this week that Udoka had not talked to him about if he will be in the starting lineup. Eason said he desires an elevated offensive role after he came off the bench in 41 of his 57 games played last season. Udoka said Eason will be in contention for a starting position during training camp, but the starting lineup is very much in flux.
With all that said, what do you think about the injury news? Will this set the Rockets back at the start of the year? Who are you looking at to step up, and as always, GO ROCKETS!
