Dorian Finney-Smith was a highly coveted trade target for many teams, but it was the Los Angeles Lakers who were ultimately able to swing a deal for the veteran wing. A big reason why is because he has spent many years defending top wings in this league, which includes many meetings with his now teammate, LeBron James.
Many people have faced off with LeBron and tried their best to limit his impact, but Finney-Smith now has the opportunity to be on the other side of that and benefit from James’ greatness. It is still early on in his time with the Lakers, but Finney-Smith is already enjoying being a teammate as opposed to an opponent.
The veteran discussed this following the Lakers’ contest against the Houston Rockets, noting that he is still adjusting to his new team, but is enjoying just being able to watch LeBron instead of having to guard him, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“It was good. They’re still telling me I’m turning shots down so I probably could’ve gotten like two more. But it’s fun out there. Get to play alongside these guys, giving me confidence, having fun, seeing Bron shoot the ball off one leg. It’s fun to be able to see it and not having to guard it.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough for the Lakers to come away with a win in Houston despite a spirited comeback effort. While Finney-Smith was happy with the fight they showed, it ultimately didn’t matter without a victory:
“I mean, we didn’t get the win. So I think it would feel a lot better if we won. We for sure can learn from it, take the positives from the game and apply them to next game. Because that’s what everybody is doing is shooting 3s and crashing the offensive glass. We better get used to it.”
As Finney-Smith said, the Lakers know what teams are going to try to do against them so this team better lock in and focus on limiting these issues as teams will continue to exploit them for as long as they can.
Dorian Finney-Smith believes Lakers can be a top team in the league
It is still early on in his time with the Lakers, but Dorian Finney-Smith already has belief in what this team can accomplish as long as they lock in defensively.
“If we get stops and get out and run, we got guys that can, we got LeBron who causes so much trouble in transition, he makes some of the craziest passes that gets through guys’ hands,” Finney-Smith noted after the Lakers’ win over the Hawks. “But if we keep teams close to 100 points, we’re one of the top teams in the league. I don’t see why we can’t. We got whatever you need.”
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