JJ Redick reveals how Nets trade turned around Lakers' season
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Several familiar faces greeted Dorian Finney-Smith in the Barclays Center tunnels on Monday following the Los Angeles Lakers' 111-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. Among them was Nets general manager Sean Marks, who traded Finney-Smith two months earlier.
Unlike many midseason trades, there were no hard feelings. Not even a hint of awkwardness.
“I knew the situation. I knew there was a chance that I was gonna traded this season,” Finney-Smith told ClutchPoints. “I just appreciate the Nets and the coaching staff and everybody for being professional about it."
After trading Mikal Bridges and pivoting to a rebuild this summer, Finney-Smith no longer fit Brooklyn’s timeline entering this season. The trade with the Lakers gave both sides what they wanted. It landed the Nets three second-round picks and D’Angelo Russell’s expiring contract, adding to their league-leading cap space this summer, while sending Finney-Smith to a playoff team, where he's made an immediate impact.
Dorian Finney-Smith makes immediate impact for Lakers after trade from Nets
The Lakers had a glaring defensive problem during the first half of the season. Many viewed their acquisition of Finney-Smith as a band-aid over a gunshot wound. However, the veteran wing’s addition has coincided with a dramatic turnaround.
Los Angeles ranked 21st defensively before the trade. They rank fourth since while posting the NBA’s fifth-best record at 22-10.
“He’s brought a level of toughness. Certainly communication and the spirit to want to defend. I think guys have responded well to who he is as a player, a teammate, a person. He’s just fit right in,” JJ Redick said of Finney-Smith. “Our season kind of turned around, the energy and spirit of our group turned around when we got him. He’s been huge for us.”
JJ Redick said the Lakers season turned around after they traded for Dorian Finney-Smith:
"He's brought a level of toughness. The spirit to want to defend. Guys have responded well to who he is as a player, a teammate."
LA ranked 21st in DEF before the trade. They're 4th since. pic.twitter.com/UDRm24T4wf
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) March 10, 2025
The Lakers are outscoring opponents by 15.5 points per 100 possessions during Finney-Smith’s minutes, the NBA’s fourth-highest net rating swing among players to play over 500 minutes. His size and defensive versatility have been a weapon on the wing alongside LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt.
“His positional size [is great]… He guards centers and he guards perimeter players. He can do everything. He's extremely tough and a great teammate, and that just helps. And that's why I think part of their success comes from bringing in guys like him,” said Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez. “He was very good for us on the defensive end when he was here. The ability to put him on a center and switch, to put him on a guard and switch again. That versatility is great and I believe that has been part of their success."
Finney-Smith opened the season as an out-of-place veteran on a tanking Nets roster. Four months later, he's pursuing a title on the NBA’s most famous team alongside James and Doncic, two of the league’s most famous players.
The NBA can be unpredictable in that way.
The shift in expectations and attention from Brooklyn to Los Angeles could be jarring. But as a player who was impactful over 31 playoff games alongside Doncic with the Dallas Mavericks, Finney-Smith is relishing the opportunity.
"I was taught expectations are always a good thing. That means you're doing something right,” he said. “We just gotta stay together and keep trying to win games. It’s hard to win games in the NBA. But we just gotta keep it going.
[I’m] just bringing energy. Being me and being talkative with the rest of the guys. That toughness is one of the things I knew I'd bring to the table. So I'm glad I've been able to provide that here."
The post JJ Redick reveals how Nets trade turned around Lakers’ season appeared first on ClutchPoints.
