The Los Angeles Lakers made a savvy trade, acquiring one of the top targets available in Brooklyn Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith.
The main reason why the Lakers ought to feel especially excited about Finney-Smith is his defensive prowess. While he is shooting a career-best 43.5 percent on 3-pointers and will help relieve spacing for LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the most exciting element to his game is what he can provide on the defensive end of the floor.
Earlier this season, on November 26, the Lakers had the fourth-worst defense in the league. Even earlier this month, on December 5, their defensive rating still ranked worse than all but three teams in the NBA. It was a disaster on that end of the court for first-year head coach JJ Redick and Los Angeles.
But between December 8 and December 28, they started surging and had the second-best defensive rating in the league in that span.
Already anchored by one of the best defenders in the world with Davis and a possible imminent return of Jarred Vanderbilt in early January, the addition of Finney-Smith can only help that identity.
Finney-Smith ranked in the 74th percentile or better in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus each season since 2018, per dunksandthrees.com, and also better than the 80th percentile in each campaign since 2020.
What is most impressive about Finney-Smith, though, is that he is able to play well no matter who he is guarding. Finney-Smith currently ranks 94th percentile in defensive matchup difficulty and 89th percentile in defensive positional versatility, via BBall-Index.
Among those who have logged more than 1,900 minutes in a completed season, there are only 32 players in the league who have reached the 90th percentile or better in each threshold in the database. Finney-Smith has achieved it five years in a row, however, achieving as much in each season between 2019 and 2023.
That ranks solely as the most of anyone in that period. For comparison: The only other players to accomplish this more than twice in that span are Mikal Bridges, Herbert Jones, Jimmy Butler, Royce O’Neale, P.J. Tucker, and Andrew Wiggins.
JJ was always a fan of Dorian Finney-Smith. They were teammates briefly and DFS clearly made an impression on him. Talked about him a lot on the podcast. pic.twitter.com/3qbFyZVvSd
— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) December 29, 2024
Using the matchup data available on NBA.com, including the postseason, here are the players Finney-Smith has defended for the most possessions (in order): Paul George, Donovan Mitchell, DeMar DeRozan, Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, James Harden, Brandon Ingram, Jayson Tatum, LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and Chris Paul.
It takes a lot of confidence from a coach to assign a player to guard that caliber of opponent. But how did he do in those opportunities?
Let’s take a look at someone like Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, who the Lakers will assuredly play in the Western Conference. Booker has averaged 34.4 points per 100 possessions but is averaging 21.3 points per 100 when defended by Finney-Smith.
Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the best players in the NBA and has averaged 34.0 points per 100 as a pro with an eFG% at 53.6 percent. When guarded by Finney-Smith, he is averaging 23.0 points per 100 with an eFG% at just 43.0 percent. (Note: League average eFG% since DFS turned pro is 53.4 percent.)
| MATCHUP | POSSESSIONS | POINTS PER 100 (NBA) | POINTS PER 100 (DFS MATCHUPS) | DIFFERENCE |
| Paul George | 605.1 | 30.7 | 19.5 | -11.2 |
| Donovan Mitchell | 551.8 | 35.7 | 27.4 | -8.3 |
| DeMar DeRozan | 494.8 | 30.9 | 19.6 | -11.3 |
| Devin Booker | 441.2 | 34.4 | 21.3 | -13.1 |
| Jayson Tatum | 343.4 | 33.4 | 18.6 | -14.8 |
| LeBron James | 319.6 | 36.6 | 22.8 | -13.8 |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 221.7 | 34.0 | 23.0 | -11.0 |
| Ja Morant | 147.6 | 33.3 | 21.7 | -11.6 |
| Paolo Banchero | 100.6 | 30.6 | 16.9 | -13.7 |
There is superstar guard Ja Morant, who has averaged 33.3 points per 100 with an eFG% at 50.8 percent since he was drafted by the Grizzlies. He is averaging 21.8 points per 100 while recording an eFG% of 41.7 percent in his Finney-Smith matchups.
Or we can look in the Eastern Conference at a forward like Boston’s Jayson Tatum, who is averaging 33.4 points per 100 with a 53.4 percent effective goal percentage in his NBA career. But during Finney-Smith matchups, he is averaging 18.6 points per 100 with an eFG% at just 40.6 percent.
He has fared well against other bigger forwards such as Paolo Banchero (30.6 points per 100 in the NBA versus 16.9 points per during DFS matchups), Pascal Siakam (27.8 points per 100 as a pro versus 19.3 points per 100 for DFS matchups), and Lauri Markkanen (28.5 points per 100 in the NBA versus 20.7 points per 100 during DFS matchups).
There are some players who give him a challenge, like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokić. But those assignments can go to his new teammate Anthony Davis, who is one of the best defenders in the world. For the most part, no matter what position he is guarding, he is able to make a positive impact.
For much of the season, Rui Hachmiura as well as Max Christie and Cam Reddish had to take on the most difficult assignments on the opposing team.
Now, however, Finney-Smith can play that role and ease the burden on his new teammates as they attempt to make a playoff push down the stretch.
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