Report: Dorian Finney-Smith Unlikely to Play for Charlotte Hornets

Veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith is unlikely to play for the Charlotte Hornets, according to Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer. 

The Hornets acquired Finney-Smith from the Houston Rockets. 

Along with getting Finney-Smith, the Hornets acquired three second-round picks from the Rockets in the trade. Charlotte now has 20 second-round picks over the next seven years, the second-highest number of tradeable picks in the NBA.

Finney-Smith will make $13,765,987 next season. He appeared in only 37 games for the Rockets last season, averaging 3.3 points per game while shooting 33.3% from the field, 27.0% from 3 and 88.9% from the free-throw line. 

It will be fascinating to see where Finney-Smith is playing next season. The 33-year-old has played for the Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers and Rockets. He holds career averages of 8.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in the regular season and 9.3 points per game in the playoffs. 

It has been an active offseason for the Hornets, who dealt LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three future first-round pick swaps and three future second-round picks.

Charlotte then traded Miles Bridges, a 2029 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick to the Phoenix Suns for Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale and a 2033 first-round pick.

The Hornets are expected to start Coby White, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Reid and Moussa Diabaté next season. That's a strong starting five on paper. 

In this year's draft, Charlotte selected Hannes Steinbach from Washington with the 14th overall pick and Texas Tech's Christian Anderson Jr. with the 18th overall pick.

The Hornets missed the playoffs this past season by one game. They haven't made the playoffs since 2016, but the future of the franchise looks bright with White, Miller, Knueppel, Reid and Diabaté leading the way. 

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