December 30 marked the birthday of the NBA’s all time leading scorer LeBron James. The Lakers superstar turned 40 years old becoming the 28th player in NBA history to be active on an NBA roster at that age. Additionally, he is the only 40-year-old in the NBA currently. To celebrate the incredible milestone the Lakers prepared a gift for the four-time NBA champion with their recent trade. ESPN analyst Shannon Sharpe expressed his praise for the Lakers and their great gift.
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Sharpe took to ESPN’s First Take to give his first reaction to the Lakers’ first trade of the 2024-25 season. The full details of the deal include the Lakers sending D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Nets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. Although it wasn’t a move for a star player, Sharpe believes this is an amazing move for the Lakers. He said,
“This is a very good move because they need wing defenders. They need guys, and Dorian Finney-Smith is a very good wing defender… So I think they absolutely got better with the Shake Milton and Forain Finney-Smith trade. I like the trade.”
The Lakers have always been the team to swing for a home run deal. However, they elected to bolster their depth by adding Finney-Smith. Throughout LeBron’s most successful seasons of his career, the team has surrounded him with a plethora of 3-and-D players.
Sharpe went on to highlight the significance of replacing Russell’s liability on defense for the massive improvement from Finney-Smith. Additionally, Russell is having the worst season of his career. On the other hand, Finney-Smith is averaging a career-high in three-point percentage at an impressive 43.5%.
This move doesn’t quite catapult the Lakers to championship favorites, but it does elevate them drastically.
Finney-Smith’s fit with the Lakers
Finney-Smith is one of the most impactful players in the NBA and the advanced statistics back it up. There is a reason the Nets have exceeded expectations this season. Finney-Smith is a major reason why.
So far in the 2024-25 season, Finney-Smith holds a point differential of +15.5, which is in the top 97th percentile in the league. In addition, his expected wins total is +34 according to Cleaning The Glass. Unlike, Russell who needs the ball in his hands to be successful, Finney-Smith does so many of the little things that impact winning.
He knows his role and won’t play out of it. That is the ideal prototype of a player that the Lakers have been desperate for this season. The Lakers are the 28th team in three-point attempts and Finney-Smith will certainly improve that number.
The 6-foot-8 forward will most likely be available for the Lakers’ next game against the Cavaliers on Tuesday, December 31 at 9 PM. Lakers faithful will witness first-hand how impactful Finney-Smith truly is.
