Rockets prove new era is underway by landing one of free agency's biggest steals

The Houston Rockets have made it official with Dorian Finney-Smith. The team just agreed to a deal with the veteran wing.

The rumors have been buzzing for some time. At least, they've been buzzing for long enough for me to write an entire piece outlining why I didn't want to sign him.

A regrettable choice.

That's sports journalism. It's also sports fandom. The general manager isn't always going to do what you want. Rafael Stone has earned trust as the team's GM. Now, all we can do is welcome Finney-Smith to the Rockets:

Let's try to look on the bright side.

Rockets land elite 3-and-D wing

The thrust of my argument was that the Rockets didn't need another wing. Between Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., and Tari Eason, they're set up in that department.

It seems the team saw room for one more.

Here's the good news: basketball is positionless in 2025. The Rockets don't need to play "a 2" at the 2. It seems likely that Thompson will find most of his minutes in the backcourt alongside Fred VanVleet next year. Could Finney-Smith join him there?

If the Rockets are willing to play him as a jumbo off-guard, it changes the calculus. With Finney-Smith finding minutes at the 2, 3, and 4, he should be able to get on the floor often enough to justify this contract:

After all, it's not terribly expensive.

Rockets get Finney-Smith at a good price

Any trepidation about Finney-Smith shouldn't be related to the price tag. This is a (more than) reasonable deal for him. That said, he needs to do what the Rockets need from him to earn his keep.

Last year, Finney-Smith shot a career-best 41.1% from deep. The year prior, he hit 34.8% of his triples. That's not great, but the year before that should scare Rockets fans. Finney-Smith hit just 30.6% of his threes in 2022-23.

Generally speaking, Finney-Smith has been a volatile three-point shooter for his whole career. His value to Houston will be closely tied to his three-point shooting. It's been an area of concern for this team for some time, so the Rockets need their newest addition to add value there.

On the defensive side, the team knows what they're getting from Finney-Smith. He's always positive on that end. That's likely what attracted the organization to him. Finney-Smith will make the Rockets a better team in 2025-26:

Even if some of us wouldn't have signed him.