Dorian Finney-Smith Reportedly Opts Out of $15.4M Lakers Contract to Test Free Agency

After spending the second half of the 2024-25 season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Dorian Finney-Smith is hitting the open market.

Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the veteran forward declined his $15.4 million player option for the 2025-26 season and will now be an unrestricted free agent.

Charania noted a return to the Lakers is "possible," but they will have competition from "multiple contending teams" interested.

The Lakers landed Finney-Smith in December after trading D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-rounders to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for him and Shake Milton.

Finney-Smith began his career with the Dallas Mavericks in 2016 and played with them until 2023, when he was traded to Brooklyn.

Finney-Smith was playing some of the best basketball of his career before being traded to Los Angeles. In 20 games with the Nets, he averaged 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in a starting role. He took on a smaller role with the Lakers, but still ended up having a good season, putting up 8.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, mostly off the bench.

After the season, Finney-Smith had ankle surgery to address an issue that had impacted him for multiple seasons. With that issue seemingly taken care of, he'll look to come back strong for either the Lakers or another team he ends up with in free agency.

Los Angeles had long been fixated on Finney-Smith before the trade. Clutch Point's Anthony F. Irwin reported in November that the Lakers had reached out to the Nets about a trade during the 2023-24 season and remained in contact to start the 2024-25 season.

Ultimately, Los Angeles will get less than a season of Finney-Smith unless it can lure him back in free agency.

Finney-Smith's decision to decline the player option was somewhat expected, and he'll now get to test the free agent waters. Considering the interest he's drawn on the trade market over the last few seasons, he should have plenty of teams trying to sign him.