The Los Angeles Lakers have gotten off to a slow start to free agency, although they finally made a splash on Wednesday when they agreed to terms with center Deandre Ayton on a two-year contract.
That was the Lakers’ second move after they came to an agreement with Jake LaRavia on a two-year, $12 million deal when the team lost Dorian Finney-Smith.
Finney-Smith opted out of his player option for the 2025-26 season and while there was mutual interest in him returning, Los Angeles wound up letting him walk in free agency to the Houston Rockets. Finney-Smith signed a four-year, $53 million deal with the Rockets, signaling the Lakers weren’t interested in matching such an offer. In fact, reports indicate they were only willing to go to two years for Finney-Smith.
Apparently things didn’t end on a positive note between L.A. and Finney-Smith after their contract negotiations, according to Zach Lowe of The Ringer:
“On Saturday, I said keep an eye on the Finney-Smith situation. That’s gonna be the tell for me for how the Lakers are thinking about things cause I heard negotiations were going badly. And I said will he even opt out? Do the Lakers even want to even pay him? The answer to that turned out to be no they didn’t want to pay him and he opted out and I don’t think they ended on very good terms either.”
It doesn’t feel great knowing that Finney-Smith and Los Angeles couldn’t see eye to eye during negotiations, and his exit might give someone like Luka Doncic pause. Finney-Smith and Doncic have a close relationship, so the star might not take too kindly to how the organization reportedly treated his friend.
The two sides likely disagreed on the number of years on Finney-Smith’s extension as the veteran understandably wanted to lock up as many guaranteed years as possible. However, Los Angeles is reportedly motivated to keep their cap sheet clean so they can go star chasing in 2027.
While losing Finney-Smith for nothing is tough after trading second-round picks for him last season, it’s clear that the two sides had their differences and felt the need to go their separate ways.
Luka Doncic involved in everything Lakers are doing
Luka Doncic is the newest superstar to join the Lakers organization and will have a say in team decisions. Their partnership has already taken off as Doncic is reportedly involved in everything the team is doing this summer.
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