The NBA Bubble at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports in Orlando has given the opportunity for several players to rise to stardom. Portland’s Damian Lilliard, Indiana’s TJ Warren, and Miami’s Duncan Robinson have all had their profiles raised with major performances and while they deserve all the credit they are getting there is one unsung hero that also deserves praise.
Former Gator Dorian Finney-Smith.
One of the Cinderellas of the Bubble so far has been the Dallas Mavericks and a large reason why is the play of their young star Luka Doncic. While he has been phenomenal, a large reason why he has been so successful is that the Mavericks have surrounded him with capable role players like Finney-Smith.
Here is a stat that may surprise you.
Dorian Finney-Smith has already played in 254 NBA games, a number that surpasses the average career of a basketball player in the last decade. That stat is so impressive because Finney-Smith didn’t hear his name called on draft night–he had to carve out an NBA role himself.
After finishing his career at Florida, Finney-Smith didn’t drum up much NBA attention. However, the Dallas Mavericks saw something they liked and invited him to their Summer League roster. There, he didn’t blow the Mavericks away with flash or huge numbers but won them over with his passion and the way he never took a possession off. They offered him an unguaranteed contract, one that kept him around the team for training camp but not one that was thought to amount to anything. However, after tireless work in the training camp and preseason, he ended up winning a role on the opening night roster.
He ended up playing in 81 of 82 games as a rookie.
Finney-Smith’s work ethic and motor have maintained to this day, but finally the skills we saw at Florida have caught up to his NBA game. After hitting 39% of his threes in his final two years at Florida, he struggled to hit shots at the NBA level. His first three seasons in the NBA saw him at only 30.4% from deep, a problem that often kept him off the floor in key moments. However, things came together for him this year and he shot 38% from deep allowing him to space the floor for Doncic and stay on the court in key moments. He played 30 minutes per game, making him a bonafide starter.
Not so bad for an undrafted free agent.
Now that we’re in the playoffs Finney-Smith is starting to get noticed by national basketball media and fans as the Mavericks are playing some of the best basketball out there. As the 7th seed in the west the odds were stacked against them against a formidable Los Angeles Clippers team but some inspired basketball by the Mavericks has them in the mix for an upset.
Finney-Smith has been playing an even more heightened role for the Mavericks now than he did in the regular season. A regular forward in Dwight Powell had a season-ending injury, and star big man Kristaps Porzingis has missed action meaning everyone in the Mavericks lineup has had to slide up a position. With last year’s playoff MVP Kawhi Leonard leading the way for the Clippers the Mavericks have called upon Finney-Smith to guard him and in that role he has been able to limit his attempts with length and dogged determination.
Quietly putting up a quality, well-rounded stat line of 9 pounds, 5.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks, Finney-Smith is showing off what we saw when he was a Gator. A jack-of-all-trades who will do whatever it takes to win. It’s what made him a fan favorite in Gainesville and it’s what’s making him a fan favorite in Dallas.
Dorian Finney-Smith hasn’t been the only undrafted Gator to make noise in the NBA bubble as Chris Chiozza has also made his presence felt. Even though his Brooklyn Nets were outmatched by the defending champion Toronto Raptors that didn’t stop him from putting together some nice highlights and a quality statline, averaging 5.8 points, 4.3 assists, and 1.3 steals in only 16 minutes per game.
With the way Mike White is recruiting it won’t be long until we start seeing more Gators drafted but that isn’t the only path to the league. Dorian Finney-Smith and Chris Chiozza have shown that you can be an undrafted free agent and have success and their NBA roles should be a glowing endorsement of the Florida basketball program.