Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith, while supporting Brooklyn during Sunday’s 87-78 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, broke his silence on his trade future.
“I’m human,” Finney-Smith told reporters. “I’ve got family always asking me what’s going on and s–t like that, but I’m just honest. I’m human, so I’m going to pay attention a little bit. But I’m wherever my feet are at, so I’m a Brooklyn Net and that’s why I’m here. I care about these guys — (Jalen Wilson), Noah (Clowney) and Keon (Johnson). I’ve been watching these guys work.”
Finney-Smith, 31, averaged 8.5 points and 4.7 rebounds in 28.4 minutes while starting 56 of 68 games this past season.
“I could be in a tougher situation where I’m looking for a job,” said Finney-Smith, whom the Nets originally acquired with Spencer Dinwiddie and a 2029 first-rounder in the February 2023 trade that sent Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks. “I know I’m gonna be good regardless. If I’m here, I’m here. If I’m not, I’m not. So I just try to be wherever my feet are at. So I’m a Net right now and I’m looking forward to competing.”
Finney-Smith, whose current contract has a player option for the 2025-26 season, is a potential trade chip after the Nets traded Mikal Bridges to the Knicks and signaled a rebuild in Brooklyn.
“We went from, ‘What we going to do next year?’ to, ‘We ’bout to kick y’all ass,'” said Finney-Smith, who was training with Bridges in Dallas when the news of the trade originally broke June 25. “We’ve got to break that Villanova s–t up.”