The Brooklyn Nets have fallen victim to the injury bug during each of their last three seasons. Less than one game into 2023-24, they appeared to be trending in a similar direction, with Nic Claxton and Cam Johnson exiting during the season opener. Claxton (6-foot-11) and Johnson's (6-foot-8) injuries presented a significant blow to Brooklyn's size, defensive versatility and floor-spacing, three focal points of their new-look identity.
However, the Nets have found a saving grace in the form of Dorian Finney-Smith. With Claxton and Johnson sidelined, head coach Jacque Vaughn has embraced a small-ball starting lineup, and Finney-Smith's two-way play has allowed the group to thrive.
The 6-foot-7 forward is in the running for Brooklyn's best player early this year while filling a small-ball center role alongside Ben Simmons in the frontcourt. The Nets rank second in the league in fastbreak points this season, with Simmons pushing the pace in the five-out offense and spraying to shooters. Finney-Smith has been his top recipient, shooting a blistering 49 percent from deep on 7.5 attempts per game.
The hot stretch comes after Finney-Smith shot 30.6 percent from three over 26 appearances after Brooklyn traded for him last season. He underwent surgery this offseason to correct a contracture on the pinky finger of his shooting hand and has promptly regained the stroke of his Dallas days.
Some of Finney-Smith's threes have come while running the floor in transition, others have come as a pick-and-pop threat, but both share a common denominator: opposing centers are having trouble guarding him out to the perimeter. Even more surprising than his shooting is his improvement as a ball-handler, which is also giving opposing big men fits.
Finney-Smith beat Bulls center Nikola Vucevic to the rim on three separate occasions during Friday's win at Chicago.
The seven-year veteran has been highly effective when attacking closeouts, shooting 79 percent at the rim after converting at a 43 percent clip with Brooklyn last season, per Cleaning the Glass. While a small sample size, several of Finney-Smith's drives have come at pivotal moments down the stretch of games.
“You see just the comfort level that Doe is playing with,” head coach Jacque Vaughn said Monday. “Offensively, you’ve seen him shoot the basketball. He took nine threes against Chicago the other night. But he’s also driving the ball, so he can start our drive and kick when fives are closing out. He’s done that and felt very comfortable doing it.”
Defensively, Finney-Smith has done an admirable job guarding up against opposing centers. Despite giving up over 40 pounds to Vucevic on Friday, he held him to 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including an emphatic block on this duck-in.
Doe Doe DENIAL ⛔️ pic.twitter.com/TiO5Mfj7gD
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) November 4, 2023
Finney-Smith has also been better than expected playing drop coverage against the pick and roll, an adjustment the Nets have made to improve their rebounding. The Nets have posted the NBA's ninth-best defensive rebounding percentage since losing Claxton after ranking 28th in 2022-23.
Finney-Smith's strength, quickness and communication also continue to allow Brooklyn to switch high-ball screens. Over Brooklyn's last five games, you'll routinely find him challenging high-level ball-handlers on the perimeter or directing scram switches on rollers.
“How he’s communicating on the defensive end has really stood out,” Vaughn said. “He’s really fostering total defensive communication for us as that small-ball five.”
While they've largely gone under the radar, Finney-Smith's contributions are keeping the Nets afloat while missing two starters. Mikal Bridges battled with Finney-Smith for years during their days in the Western Conference. Two weeks into the season, he said it's a refreshing change of pace to be on the other end of his new teammate's high-level two-way play.
“That’s just Doe. Ever since I’ve known him playing against him when he was on Dallas, he’s just that glue guy who does everything,” Bridges said of Finney-Smith's move to playing small-ball center. “For him to play the five and be in the drop, he does it better than a lot of fives I’ve seen, and I watch a lot games. You just always want him on your team.”
“On offense, he puts a lot of pressure on the opposing team's defense, because he can get to the rim too. When they got the bigs closing out he just goes right past them. So if he's making shots, doing that, and creating, it's gonna be tough to guard us.”
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