When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Dorian Finney-Smith during the 2025 season, he immediately became one of the most trusted and important players on the roster. His ability to defend multiple positions and knock down 3-pointers at a high rate was much needed and he came through many times throughout the year.
The hope was that the Lakers would be able to keep him around long-term or, at the very least, next season. However, Finney-Smith would opt-out of the final year of his deal to test free agency and the Houston Rockets immediately emerged as a team with interest, reportedly even being willing to offer the wing a four-year deal.
And ultimately, that long-term security was exactly what Finney-Smith was looking for as he agreed to a four-year deal to join the Houston Rockets, via Shams Charania of ESPN:
Free agent forward Dorian Finney-Smith has agreed to a four-year, $53 million deal with the Houston Rockets, sources tell ESPN. Finney-Smith's agent, Michael Tellem of Excel Sports, negotiated terms of the deal tonight with Rockets executives for the 3-and-D wing. pic.twitter.com/wUNbGn0rOy
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2025
The move makes sense on all sides as the Rockets continue to make moves to boost them from a young team with potential to legitimate championship contender after already trading for Kevin Durant this offseason. Finney-Smith gives them another reliable wing who can fill a number of roles and has proven he can step up on the big stages.
For the Lakers, it is an unfortunate loss as Finney-Smith was extremely important to the success of this team last season. There is no doubt that the team would have loved to keep him around going forward, but a long-term contract of that nature was simply something they couldn’t match.
With the Lakers losing Finney-Smith though, they have the ability to open up the full mid-level exception of around $14.1 million to replace him on the free agent market.
Lakers looking to maintain long-term flexibility, make a run at superstar next summer
Losing Dorian Finney-Smith is a huge blow for the Lakers, but the franchise has a number of things that they must balance in the coming years. One of those has to do with the long-term future of this team with Luka Doncic as the centerpiece, and they are reportedly preparing for that now.
The Lakers reportedly want to maintain flexibility as they prepare to make a run in the future at a superstar to pair with Doncic, and they could be looking to do so as soon as next offseason.
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