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EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 25: General Manager Rob Pelinka of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during a press conference at UCLA Health Training Center on September 25, 2025 in El Segundo, California.
The Los Angeles Lakers, and specifically their front office, tend to find themselves under heavy scrutiny at some points, but while the team is up 2-0 against the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, it looks as though the brass accomplished their job at putting a strong, winning roster together.
The Lakers are up 2-0 over the Rockets, despite not having Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Los Angeles did make moves to add Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton over the offseason, and a deal at the deadline to add Luke Kennard, all of which look like good transactions that have so far worked out for Los Angeles.
But hidden in the Lakers’ moves over the past year is one decision in particular that, as their series against the Rockets goes on, only looks better and better for the Southern California team.
GettyHOUSTON, 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)
Dorian Finney Smith is a current member of the Rockets after spending part of last season with the Lakers. Los Angeles let him walk in free agency and he then signed a four-year, $53 million deal with Houston over the offseason.
Over the course of this season, Finney-Smith averaged a career-low 3.3 points in just 37 games, and has yet to play for the Rockets through the first two games of their series against the Lakers.
Los Angeles could have resigned him, but while he’s now making $13 million a year and isn’t even a playoff contributor, general manager Rob Pelinka and the front office look like they made the right decision.
Free agent forward Dorian Finney-Smith has agreed to a four-year, $53 million deal with the Houston Rockets, sources tell ESPN. Finney-Smith’s agent, Michael Tellem of Excel Sports, negotiated terms of the deal tonight with Rockets executives for the 3-and-D wing.
Writing for LakeShowLife, Jordanna Clark praised the Lakers for letting Finney-Smith walk in free agency last summer.
“As much as it would’ve made sense for LA to keep DFS, the organization couldn’t look any better than it has for not re-signing him,” Clark wrote. “Finney-Smith has been far from the 3-and-D option that Houston needed to round out what it thought was a championship-caliber roster.”
Finney-Smith hasn’t been what was advertised for the Rockets this season, and while he could have re-signed with the Lakers, it appears they benefited from letting him go elsewhere.
GettyLuke Kennard #10 of the Los Angeles Lakers has helped the team survive the loss of stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Along with letting Finney-Smith walk, the Lakers were praised for their trade deadline acquisition of Luke Kennard, the most efficient three-point shooter in the NBA.
Los Angeles gave up Gabe Vincent and a second-round pick to get Kennard from the Atlanta Hawks. While he got immediate praise from head coach JJ Redick, Pelinka, and the roster, he’s shown out through the first two games of the playoffs, averaging 25 points on 65.4% shooting from the field and 72.7% from three-point range.
“Vincent has been a non-factor for the Hawks, while Kennard has helped lead the Lakers to two back-to-back playoff wins with Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves out,” Clark wrote in a separate article praising the Lakers’ Kennard trade. “If the trade had never happened, LA probably wouldn’t be sitting in the position that it is now.”
Kennard is on a one-year, $11 million deal, and if the Lakers want to keep him after this season, he’ll likely be asking for a pay raise. Still, with what he’s shown in the second half of the regular season and through two games in the playoffs, it wouldn’t be a stretch to retain him for a bit more than what he’s earning now.
As things stand, with the Lakers up 2-0 over the Rockets, Los Angeles appears to have made the right decision, both in letting Finney-Smith walk and deciding to land Kennard at the deadline.
The Lakers are by no means in the clear against Houston in the first round, but right now, they are firmly in the driver’s seat in the first round, thanks in big part to the front office.
Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski
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