New NBA Trade Rumors on Rockets' Dorian Finney-Smith Amid Marcus Smart Contract in Free Agency

With the Houston Rockets landing Marcus Smart in free agency, Dorian Finney-Smith might become expendable in a trade.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Wednesday the Rockets have agreed to a two-year, $13 million deal with Smart.

Per NBA insiders Jake Fischer and Marc Stein, the Rockets engaged "several teams" in trade talks for Finney-Smith as they try to keep the cap in order with Smart's contract and attempt to retain Tari Eason as a restricted free agent.

The fact that Houston got Smart to agree to a contract worth a total of $13 million leaves the door open to Finney-Smith staying put.

ESPN's Bobby Marks noted Smart's contract doesn't hard-cap the Rockets at the first apron, giving them flexibility to retain Eason and they are still $28.5 million under the second apron.

It's also plausible the Rockets explored the market for Finney-Smith and it came back softer than they wanted. He is coming off an injury-plagued season that limited him to 37 games.

Finney-Smith averaged a career-low 3.3 points per contest and shot just 33.3 percent from the field. He is guaranteed $26.6 million over the next two seasons with a $13.3 million player option for 2028-29.

More than one year removed from ankle surgery that lingered into the regular season, Finney-Smith could get back on track now that he will have a proper offseason to train and get ready for the start of training camp.

The Rockets look better on paper now than the team that finished the 2025-26 season. They are adding Smart to their guard rotation. Fred Van Vleet, who opted into his $25 million salary, figures to be ready for the season after missing all of last season due to a torn ACL.

If the Rockets keep Finney-Smith and he is more comfortable one year removed from surgery, suddenly this group looks much closer to the NBA Finals contender in the Western Conference that they were expected to be when they originally acquired Kevin Durant.