Could Trading Dorian Finney-Smith Be the Answer for the Brooklyn Nets?

Nets Owner Joe Tsai is focused on winning long term. Is Finney-Smith a part of those plans?

The Brooklyn Nets would have to trade into the 2024 NBA Draft in order to benefit from another underrated player falling lower than where they will end up getting selected. This player might perhaps alter the team's course after it finished 32–50, which was only good enough for the No. 11 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Brooklyn could look to make a trade in which the Nets could give up cash in exchange for a draft pick or player selected by another team on the night of the draft. With a second-round pick, the Nets would have a chance at landing an underrated talent. Remember that Nets center Nic Claxton along with players like Manu Ginobili and Nikola Jokic were all selected in the second round.

Another route the Nets could go with is trading the kind of player that is in demand across the trade and free agent market, a 3-and-D forward. For Brooklyn, the ideal player who fits that mold is Dorian Finney-Smith. As one of the best two-way talents on the team, he’s due between $14 to $15 million each season leading up to contract expiration in 2026. If Finney-Smith is involved in a trade package on draft night, the Nets could potentially acquire a lottery pick.

Finney-Smith's success with the Nets has not been as eventful as expected. The players he plays with determine how successful he is in his role. The forward played alongside one of the best passers in the game -- Luka Doncic -- and frequently played in a five-out system when he was a member of the Dallas Mavericks. Finney-Smith has been less effective in Brooklyn because the Nets as currently constructed can't draw as much attention from opposing defenses as Doncic. The veteran forward would certainly flourish on a team with more talented facilitators around him.

As such, trading him for draft capital could be the right move.

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