The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a stellar start and look increasingly like a title contender, but it didn't necessarily appear that way this past summer. Early on in free agency, they lost former starter Dorian Finney-Smith to the Houston Rockets.
That led to concerns about how they would get stops on the defensive end. Fortunately for the Lakers, they haven't missed Finney-Smith one bit.
Actually, he has yet to even play a game this season for the Rockets as he recovers from ankle surgery. That, combined with his age at 32 years old, makes the Rockets' decision to steal him away from the Lakers a questionable one.
After all, they didn't necessarily need him, and they could have used that salary to invest more in their guard rotation. They have plenty of depth at power forward and center but only a handful of guards.
Signing him to a 4-year, $54 million deal seems like it was done more to steal him away from the Lakers rather than to help the Rockets. The Lakers' offer did not approach anything near the contract Finney-Smith ultimately received.
Still, they managed to have a strong offseason by signing Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Smart for cheap
The Lakers wisely chose to let Dorian Finney-Smith leave
The Lakers' strategy of letting Finney-Smith leave in free agency was that they could potentially carve out up to $80 million in cap space next summer. Those aforementioned players are either on one-year deals or have a cheap multi-year contract.
That gives the Lakers flexibility to make the most of their cap space next summer. While the Lakers may instead re-sign Austin Reaves and Ayton and fill out their roster with capable role players, they could have shot themselves in the foot by re-signing Finney-Smith.
Great for the Lakers, not so much for the Rockets, who may instead look to move Finney-Smith, possibly using him as a matching salary in a trade. Knowing when to cut bait can be hard for some GMs, especially after giving up picks to land a player.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka gave up four second-round picks to acquire Finney-Smith ahead of last season's trade deadline. To the GM's credit, even though Finney-Smith played just 43 games with L.A., Pelinka quickly pivoted after it became clear that the Rockets were willing to overpay for Finney-Smith.
Their choosing to bring in cheap free agents rather than overpay to bring back a player continues to work out well for L.A. With the Lakers on pace to win 58 games this season, you can't argue with results.