5 Players the Sacramento Kings could target after adding DeMar DeRozan
By Mat Issa
Target #2: Dorian Finney-Smith
We might as well get the other Nets player that the Kings should be interested in out of the way. Finney-Smith is an older, cheaper version of Johnson who is better on defense and worse on offense.
Finney-Smith is three years older than Johnson (31 compared to Johnson's 28). He costs about ten million dollars less per year and is under contract for one less year. Finney-Smith is a better defender (Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus in the 84th percentile) and rim protector (54th percentile block rate) than Johnson (54th and 20th percentile in those categories, respectively). But he's also a worse shooter (34.8% from three) than Johnson (39.1%) on lower volume (69th percentile compared to Johnson's 87th).
Player Name | Age | Contract AAV | DEF-EPM | Block Rate | OFF EPM | 3-Point % | 3-Point Attempts Per 75 | Drives Per 36 Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Finney-Smith | 31 | 13.9 million | +1.1 | 1.7% | -1.2 | 34.8% | 6.5 | 3.9 |
Johnson | 28 | 23.6 million | -0.4 | 0.8% | +0.7 | 39.1% | 8.1 | 7.3 |
Johnson is also a better closeout attacker, placing in the 59th percentile in drives per 36 minutes compared to Finney-Smith's 28th percentile (per Thinking Basketball).
Given the fact that they now have DeRozan, the Kings will be looking for defense more than they will be on the hunt for offense. So, they can fathom some of Finney-Smith's deficiencies as an offensive player if it means they will get to benefit from his size and positional rim protection.
Johnson is a slightly more desirable asset (because of his age and value as an elite shooter). So, the Kings may be able to get Finney-Smith by just trading Huerter and no additional draft capital.