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The Dallas Mavericks have long been eliminated from playoff contention, and with just two more games remaining in the regular season, perhaps the entire organization and its fan base are already looking ahead to a very promising 2019-20 campaign.
This is not the case for third-year forward Dorian Finney-Smith, whose last two games could determine how much money he is going to earn next season. NBA insider Keith Smith explains the 25-year-old's current conundrum:
Dorian Finney-Smith needs to average 29.5 minutes (59 minutes total) over the Dallas Mavericks final two games to meet Starter Criteria. If he does, this will bump his qualifying offer and cap hold from $1,931,189 to $3,021,354. Finney-Smith played 40:13 in Sunday's game.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) April 8, 2019
Finney-Smith is currently in the final year of his three-year deal with the Mavs and will be entering free agency in the summer. As explained above, the 6-foot-8 forward will need to play a significant amount of minutes in the Mavs' final two games in order for him to qualify for a larger qualifying offer.
It's going to be tough for Finney-Smith to reach this mark in two consecutive games, especially considering how he is currently averaging just 24.6 minutes per game this season. Then again, he did play a whopping 40 minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday in a 129-127 overtime victory for the Mavs, so he might just get lucky.
The odds are a bit stacked against Finney-Smith here, as his average playing time over the past five contests (not including Sunday night) plummeted to just 15.5 minutes per game. Maybe Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle plays the role of the good guy and gives Finney-Smith his minutes, but then again, maybe not.
In three seasons for the Mavs, Finney-Smith holds averages of 5.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.5 blocks.
