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HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 16: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket against Dorian Finney-Smith #2 of the Houston Rockets during the first quarter of the game at Toyota Center on March 16, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)
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When the Rockets used their midlevel exception last offseason to sign forward Dorian Finney-Smith away from the Los Angeles Lakers, the move drew strong reviews leaguewide. Earlier in the summer, Houston had traded forward Dillon Brooks as part of the blockbuster trade to acquire Kevin Durant. Brooks was Houston's primary defensive stopper over the past two seasons and it was believed that Finney-Smith could step in and fill the void left by Brooks' absence. Finney-Smith's contract is for four years at $53 million.
The move has not gone according to plan and instead has been one of the most disappointing free agent signings of last offseason. Finney-Smith did not appear in Houston’s four games between March 27 and April 1. Only on April 3, against Utah in what was a thirty point blowout victory, did he finally appear, checking in for nine minutes of garbage time. Before that, Finney-Smith’s minutes had drastically been slashed. On the season, he is averaging just 3.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
The signing did not come without risk. Finney-Smith did not make his first appearance until Christmas Day against the Lakers. Finney-Smith had surgery on his left ankle in the offseason to address a lingering injury and clean up damage that had been bothering him for multiple seasons. He was expected to be ready for training camp following the surgery but later missed the start of the 2025-2026 season while recovering.
With Finney-Smith presumably having fallen completely out of head coach Ime Udoka’s rotation, one of the big questions now for Houston’s offseason will be whether general manager Rafael Stone will opt to give it another shot with Finney-Smith and hope that more time off following his surgery will result in a bounce-back 2026-2027 campaign, or instead, will look to flip Finney-Smith in a trade. Some of that may depend on how Houston performs in the offseason and also whether the team is able to retain restricted forward Tari Eason. Finney-Smith has three seasons remaining on his contract after this one. In 2028-2029, he has a player option that, if exercised, will pay him $13.33 million.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
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