Rockets' Dorian Finney-Smith Ranks as Top-20 Small Forward

After losing Dillon Brooks by way of the Kevin Durant trade, the Houston Rockets moved swiftly to identify a replacement, inking Dorian Finney-Smith to a four-year deal worth $52.7 million early in the offseason's free agency period.

Granted, Brooks and Finney-Smith aren't the same players. At all.

Brooks has more upside as a scorer and became a formidable long-range shooter (39.7 percent on 6.3 attempts). Brooks (and Fred VanVleet) was tasked with shifting the Rockets culture -- a surprising duty to assign him, based on the rumblings out of Memphis, when he played for the Grizzlies. 

His work ethic and fearless attitude set a great example to the young Rockets players (although he did push the line occasionally and go overboard here and there). The Rockets are paying Finney-Smith a bit less than Brooks, on average -- $13.1 million in average annual value compared to Brooks' $21.5 million -- and he won't be trading barbs with players through the media before or after games.

He's also not been penciled in as a starter. Yet.

However, Finney-Smith was ranked by The Sporting News as a top-20 small forward in the league.  Their synopsis is below:

"Finney-Smith is a rock-solid veteran who isn't going to create any offense for himself but will drain open 3's and guard multiple positions. He was the linchpin of the Lakers' defensive surge last season, capably switching onto wings and centers."

For what it's worth, Finney-Smith has chemistry with Rockets superstar Kevin Durant, having played with him on the Brooklyn Nets in 2022-23. The 32-year-old veteran has been a part of several title runs, and was a big part of the Los Angeles Lakers' defensive turnaround, due to his defensive versatility.

To add color to that, Finney-Smith ranked first overall in defensive positional versatility just last season -- a true indication of his ability to guard all five positions on the court.