Patience Has Always Been the Key When It Comes to Dorian Finney-Smith

When the Houston Rockets traded for Kevin Durant this past offseason, they knew they were not only getting one of the best players of all time, but also, even at 36, still one of the top players in the league today.

The Rockets had been floating the idea of trading for Durant all the way back in the 2024-25 season, before the trade deadline, but ultimately decided to stay with the current team to see how it would play out.

Of course, the Rockets were knocked out in the first round by the Golden State Warriors, which finally pushed them to trade for Durant.

However, when you are trading for a player of Kevin Durant's caliber, you have to give up valuable players. The Rockets traded their young, talented guard, Jalen Green, and their emotional and defensive leader, Dillon Brooks.

Trading Green was tough, but they felt that Durant would more than make up for the offense Green brought night in and night out. The bigger issue was the defensive leadership they lost when they traded Brooks.

The Rockets wanted to quickly fill that void in the free agent market, so they made signing Dorian Finney-Smith a priority as soon as free agency began. Finney-Smith, now in his tenth season, was coming off the best shooting season of his career, shooting .411 from 3-point range.

The shooting and the defense stood out as top reasons the Rockets wanted to trade for the veteran forward, especially as they were losing Brooks, who also had a career year from the arc last season. Finney-Smith, however, needed ankle surgery to repair a long, lingering injury that became more of an issue as the offseason went on.

What was expected to be a couple of months of rehab turned into several months as Finney-Smith missed all of training camp, the preseason, and the first two months of the season. Even after making his first appearance on Christmas Day against his former team in a Rockets win over the Lakers, it was going to be a slow recovery process after missing so much time.

That has been the case as Finney-Smith has struggled to return to his 2024-25 form, shooting at the worst percentages of his career from the field and from 3-point range. The Rockets' coaching staff was not alarmed, as they knew from the moment Finney-Smith first got back on the court that it was going to be a long process, so his slow start to the season wasn't as much of a concern.

Smith has had games here and there where he showed flashes, but it wasn't until the Rockets' win over the Charlotte Hornets that Rockets fans saw what type of impact Finney-Smith could have on the team.

Dorian Finney-Smith Has His Best Game of the Season in a Win Over the Hornets

The Rockets wanted to get off to a good start coming out of the All-Star break, as they were hoping for a win over the red-hot Hornets. The Rockets had played the Hornets a couple of weeks ago, and it didn't go well for the home team. The Hornets dominated the second half on their way to a 110-105 win in Houston.

It was another close match on Thursday, but Kevin Durant showed why the Rockets wanted to trade for him as he scored the Rockets last ten points on the way to the Rockets 105-101 victory. Durant led the way, but Finney-Smith had his best game of the season.

Smith had been on a minute restriction most of the season, only playing around 15 minutes a game. In Thursday's win, Smith played a season high 23 minutes and scored a season high, tying eight points. Smith also pulled down four rebounds, which is the second most in a game this season. It wasn't just what showed up in the box score that stood out for Finney-Smith.

Smith moved quicker than he has all season, especially on the defensive end. The Rockets were able to get back into the game when they went with their small-ball lineup, or what I like to call the Slim lineup, with Amen Thompson at center alongside Durant, Finney-Smith, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason.

As Finney-Smith continues to get his legs under him and also gets comfortable with the Rockets' system, he could play a major role in the Rockets going deep into the playoffs this season.