The Los Angeles Lakers allowed Dorian Finney Smith to leave as a free agent, a highly criticised decision.
After all, the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Dorian Finney-Smith in exchange for D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three two-round draft picks.
Finney-Smith only took 43 games to become a fan favorite in LA. Plus, when the Lakers traded with Luka Donsic, many believed that the presence of DFS on the roster would become even more important.
However, after a brief stint with the Lakers, Finney Smith rejected a $15.4 million player option and signed with the Houston Rockets on a four-year deal.
When Finney Smith was allowed to walk for free, the Lakers received enormous interference from their fan base.
Despite being labelled as a loser in free agency, the Lakers stuck to the decision and focused on adding other works to the roster.
The first addition to the roster was Jay Claravia of the Sacramento Kings. Laravia has agreed to a two-year, $12 million deal with Purple and Gold.
Following the acquisition of Laravia, the Lakers shifted their focus to filling the void in a central position. Rob Perinka’s work ended when former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton persuaded him to join the team.
Ayton has agreed to a two-year, $16.6 million deal with Purple and Gold following the acquisition of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Now coming to grade the moves, the Lakers certainly deserve to praise them.
In an age where teams do everything by force to avoid a second apron, signing players as cheap as possible is the ultimate playbook for the NBA general manager.
Well, Pelinka did just that by replacing Finney-Smith with Laravia and Ayton. To be precise, the average total salary for Laravia and Ayton is $14.3 million for the 2025-26 NBA season.
| statistics (2024-25) | Dorian Finney Smith | JCLARAVIA | Deandre Ayton |
| point | 8.7 ppg | 6.9 ppg | 14.4 ppg |
| rebound | 3.9 RPG | 3.9 RPG | 10.2 RPG |
| assist | 1.4 APG | 2.4 APG | 1.6 APG |
| position | SF/PF | pf | c |
Choosing a duo in DFS saves the Lakers $1.1 million in cap space. What’s more, the biggest positive that Lakernations can please is to acquire a more balanced roster ahead of the upcoming season.
Finney Smith has no offensive, but he is already 32 years old. Meanwhile, Laravia and Ayton are 23 and 26 years old, respectively.
With all that in mind, this puts the Lakers in a much longer and cheaper place to compete than the DFS on the roster.