Dorian Finney Smith is the Franchise Player X Factor

DFS was the reason the Lakers defense wasn't the dumpster fire last season that it is this season.

 

He is redundant too.

We could always go small with Bari at the 5...

DD

 

I think Rick Carlisle speaking so glowingly about DFS matches both the eye test and advanced stats on his impact with the Lakers last year.

 

Id love to see some lineups w/Smith at the 5.

Smith
DFS
KD
Reed
Amen

Let Amen run a pick and pop with Smith.

I am glad we picked up Capela.

 

The Rockets only start one guard...and that guard is also a wing. I don't see DFS's position as a reason for him not to start.

On being JSJ's backup, I expect DFS will play better than he has so far with the Rockets. I don't think it will be that big a deal between DFS or JSJ or Tari starting. I think Reed should start as he and Durant are the best shooters on the team and shooting is needed when Rockets play 2 nonshooters.

The thing I hope DFS opens up is more times that the Rockets play 4 shooters. I'm not against double big now, but think options are important. Long term, I think 4 shooters will be the base for the Rockets. If Reed stays a backup this season and DFS returns to form, expect DFS to have an amazing Net Rating (i.e., Rockets will crush other teams in last 5 minutes of 1st and early 2nd quarters).

 

Now if he can just get Sergio Llul and Spanoulis over

 

Lakers fans loved him.

 

Id like see:

Amen
Tari
KD
DFS
Sengun

•Get them used to communicating with each other.
•Do some preswitching to keep KD and Sengun out of bad spots.
•Live with DFS and Tari on any iso matchup
•Let Amen concede switches and move into help defender position and hunt some rebounds. Might up the turnovers too.

Amens grab and go game is way under utilized.

 

On offense, I like his confidence and 3pt shot so far. We haven't had a chance to see him off the dribble, but if he can hit 40% from 3, dibble drives won't be a deal breaker if they are subpar.

On defense, he can't stay in front of his man, and sometimes it's really bad. His saving grace is his length, he's able to pressure from along side. I've also seen him be vocal on defense a couple times, so that's a plus, given we don't have Dillon anymore.

Overall, as a defensive replacement for Dillon, my hope was for a start at 85% of Dillon (due to injury) and ramping up to 95%+ within a couple weeks, but I don't see that so far. So far I see about 70% of Dillon and I'm not sure that his ceiling will get much past 90%.

Seems like a solid depth piece right now, but not the potential starter and defensive stopper that I had hoped for.

As long as Tari can stay healthy and be the main POA defender, DFS as a help defender and defensive caller could be really good due to his length and veteran anticipation.

 

It's still early. I'd give him some more time to get back to full strength in physical quickness and timing. He is a career 36% 3pt shooter. He shot at around 40% in his last two season on fairly high volume. I expect his shooting to be better than Brooks.

 

I believe his +5 is playing with other guys as his two teammates Reed and Okogie had much lower BPM than their stats would indicate. Basically he lowered their BPM and they increased his.

 

@J.R.