The Los Angeles Lakers kick off their title chase on Saturday as they host the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. After a slow start to the season, the Lakers have been a different team since the calendar turned to 2025. Since January 1, the Lakers are 32-18, moving all the way up to third place in the Western Conference.
One of the most under-the-radar reasons for that surge was the addition of Dorian Finney-Smith. After being acquired in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets on December 29, Finney-Smith completely changed the Lakers' season. It behooves the Lakers to give the veteran forward an increased role in the playoffs.
Lakers Must Give Dorian Finney-Smith as Many Minutes as He Can Handle
The Luka Doncic trade at the deadline obviously stole all the headlines. The Lakers' turnaround was understandably seen from that perspective and Finney-Smith's contributions were overlooked. In reality, however, DFS has had a massive impact on the team. In fact, he leads the team in on/off metrics, per Cleaning the Glass. The Lakers are a whopping +17.1 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor than off. When he is on the court, the Lakers have a net rating of +11.7, putting them among the elite teams in the NBA.
Despite this, Finney-Smith is averaging 28.8 minutes per game. It is hard to play over 30 minutes per game coming off the bench. So, JJ Redick should consider starting Finney-Smith instead of Rui Hachimura at some point in the postseason.
Finney-Smith provides high-level two-way play that the Lakers lack. He can guard multiple positions while hitting 40% of his threes on the other end of the field. When facing the Rudy Gobert-led Wolves defense, Finney-Smith will play a huge role in spreading out the floor and getting Gobert to guard out in the perimeter.
The Lakers will likely play extended minutes without a center. When Jaxson Hayes is on the bench, it will be up to Finney-Smith and Hachimura to guard bigger players like Gobert and Naz Reid. To maximize Finney-Smith's impact, the Lakers should try to get his minutes up to mid-30s per game.