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The Los Angeles Lakers are never ones to shy away from the spotlight. They are always in the headlines, and the NBA offseason has been no different. The team was sold for a record amount of money, and there has been massive trade speculation surrounding LeBron James. Now, there are reports that Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka was torpedoing value on his own.
Bill Simmons seemed to confirm on his podcast that Rob Pelinka was negging the trade value around Dorian Finney-Smith. However, ClutchPoints Lakers Insider Anthony Irwin also reported the same thing days ago. Pelinka reportedly made it seem like his injury was way worse than it was, and word got back to Finney-Smith.
“On top of lowballing Dorian Finney-Smith, the word out there is that Rob Pelinka was going out there and talking to teams about Dorian's [ankle] to try to tank Dorian's free agency value and the offers that could potentially come in,” Irwin said on his podcast “The Lakers Lounge” on Monday, June 30, at the start of the NBA Free Agency. “Word is that it got back to Dorian and his camp.”
The ramifications of this allegation could be massive, considering that Finney-Smith was close with Luka Doncic from his time with the Mavericks.
Finney-Smith was not terrible with the Lakers, but he did nothing impressive in his time in Los Angeles. Last season, he averaged 8.7 points on 44.8% from the field.
It remains to be seen if this will affect Doncic, but it's not a good look with a massive extension for Doncic coming up sooner rather than later.
The Houston Rockets signed Finney-Smith to a four-year $53 million deal, while the Lakers only offered him a two-year contract, in a big slap in the face to him.
The replacement for Finney-Smith as a 3-and-D player off the win was Jake LaRavia from the Sacramento Kings. He signed a two-year, $12 million contract. He was a cheaper and younger option than Finney-Smith for the Lakers. He also averaged 6.9 points with a 47.5% field goal percentage last season.
The plan around the Lakers has been questionable so far this offseason. However, they are still making moves, recently signing Deandre Ayton at the center position, where they need a massive boost down low.
Los Angeles is once again the center of attention in the NBA offseason. If these rumors about Rob Pelinka sinking the value of Finney-Smith are true, then that attention will not go away anytime soon, especially during NBA free agency.
