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Veteran free agent forward Dorian Finney-Smith and the Houston Rockets have agreed to a four-year, $53 million contract, league sources told ClutchPoints on Monday night. Finney-Smith is leaving the Los Angeles Lakers after spending a portion of the 2024-25 season with the team and recently declining his $15.4 million player option.
The Lakers traded D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Finney-Smith and Shake Milton in December. Now, the two-way wing departs Los Angeles for a Western Conference rival in a better position to contend for a championship.
Losing Finney-Smith is a significant blow to the Lakers, especially considering that he is close friends with Luka Doncic. Los Angeles will have a hard time replacing his production on the wing in a limited free-agent market this offseason.
The final year of Finney-Smith's new contract with Houston will contain a player option.
Finney-Smith, 32, has been known to be one of the better 3-and-D players on the wing in the NBA through the years. Multiple teams had expressed interest in him before he was traded to the Lakers this past season, and he again had playoff-contending teams interested in his services this free agency period.
However, after the Rockets traded for two-time Finals MVP and 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant, Houston became a prime destination for Finney-Smith. Houston has also been very active this offseason before and after trading for Durant.
Steven Adams elected to return on a new three-year, $39 million contract instead of becoming a free agent, and former NBA champion point guard Fred VanVleet restructured his deal by having his $44.9 million team option declined. Instead, VanVleet will agree to a two-year, $50 million contract, which created breathing room for the team to give Jabari Smith Jr. a $122 million extension.
VanVleet taking less money also allowed GM Rafael Stone and the Rockets to be aggressive on the free agent market with players like Finney-Smith and Nickeil Alexander-Walker available.
Finney-Smith now becomes a key part of a revamped Rockets roster and will replace Dillon Brooks on the wing, who was included with Jalen Green in the trade with the Phoenix Suns for Durant. He averaged 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 41.1 percent from 3-point range in 63 combined games with the Nets and Lakers.
The Rockets finished the 2024-25 regular season with a 52-30 record, their best since the 2018-19 season when James Harden led the team to the Western Conference Semifinals. Despite their success this season as one of the younger teams in the league, Houston lost in the first round of the playoffs in a seven-game series against the Golden State Warriors.
With Durant available on the trade market and the Rockets recognizing their chance to capitalize on their championship potential, Stone and his front office pulled the trigger on the deal to acquire one of the best pure scorers in the NBA.
As a result, the Rockets have continued to add to their roster with the addition of Finney-Smith in free agency with the hopes of dethroning the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference.
