Obvious Dorian Finney-Smith decision is looming for Rockets front office

The Rockets may not yet be set on which players they would like to add this offseason, but they definitely know one that they would like to lose. Dorian Finney-Smith is a clear trade target after failing to perform anywhere close to his $13.3 million annual contract value last season. At this point, the Rockets just want to move him somewhere else and would even be content to replace him with other washed-up players at a discount.

Finney-Smith is actively being shopped

Reports indicate that Houston is doing what it can to move on from Finney-Smith just one year after signing him to a 4-year deal. Fortunately for the Rockets, the last two seasons of his deal are not guaranteed so they might be able to get some trade value out of him as an expiring contract. If he's waived before the end of next season, his contract value comes off the books entirely after 2027.

DFS was originally meant to be a big signing last offseason as a veteran 3-and-D wing. However, his age and injuries caught up to him last season and he was a complete non-factor both in the regular season and playoffs. His utterly disappointing season is part of the reason that the Rockets now have to consider all possible options to upgrade the team before next season.

Unfortunately, the Rockets may now even have to attach other assets along with Finney-Smith to get off his contract. They do have some valuable draft picks coming up, but ideally could get away with adding just a second-rounder to him. Trading him away would obviously give the Rockets much more flexibility to pursue their intended targets this offseason, but no one wants to take on his contract for free.

The Rockets learned a valuable lesson from DFS

Hopefully the Rockets front office took away a big learning from the whole Finney-Smith debacle. It's very difficult to trust aging role players with concerning injury histories. Signing DFS to a relatively cheap multi-year contract seemed like a stroke of genius in the moment, but perhaps there was a reason his former team wasn't willing to match the contract.

The Rockets saw the value of availability from practically all their veterans last season. Both Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams had season-ending injuries that cost them most or all of the season. And Kevin Durant had his injury struggles at the worst possible time, missing nearly all of the Rockets' playoff games.

If the Rockets are able to move on from Finney-Smith somehow, hopefully they will replace him with someone who can stay healthier. Even if that replacement has his flaws on the court, being able to play most games is much better than a theoretically perfect player who rarely plays.

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