Lakers in danger of losing notable starter

The Los Angeles Lakers may have a reason to worry with their supporting cast around LeBron James and Luka Doncic.

Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith is expected to draw “considerable” interest around the league, NBA writer Jake Fischer reported to Substack over the weekend. Should he test free agency, Finney-Smith would immediately head to “the top of the midlevel market for frontcourt players,” Fischer adds.

The 32-year-old Finney-Smith currently holds a $15.4 million player option for next season. He has a deadline of Sunday to decide on whether to pick up that option or to decline it in the hopes of a bigger and longer-term payday on the open market.

Finney-Smith was acquired by the Lakers in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets last December. He finished out the regular season as a preferred starter at the forward position for the Lakers and also started during the playoffs after the team moved away from Jaxson Hayes during their first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Overall for the Lakers last season, Finney-Smith averaged 7.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per game.

The nine-year NBA veteran Finney-Smith has an ideal skillset for a modern NBA role player. He is long and defends exquisitely at 6-foot-7 and also shot 41.1 percent from three last season as a catch-and-shoot specialist. Finney-Smith has great chemistry too with the Lakers star Doncic, whom he already played with on the Dallas Mavericks from 2018-23.

But if Finney-Smith declines his player option and triggers a bidding battle, the Lakers might be out of luck. The Lakers would ideally like to maintain enough financial flexibility to sign a true big man such as this skilled target for their taxpayer’s midlevel exception.