The Los Angeles Lakers had their offseason start off on a pretty rough note when Dorian Finney-Smith decided to jump ship and join a different Western Conference contender. The situation looks a whole lot worse seeing Cam Whitmore get traded to the Washington Wizards for scraps.
Shams Charania broke the news of Whitmore being dealt away from the Houston Rockets for an unremarkable return package of just two second-round picks. Michael Scotto would later add the exact details for those interested.
Scotto wrote, "Update: The Washington Wizards are acquiring Cam Whitmore from the Houston Rockets in exchange for a 2026 Chicago Bulls second-round pick and a 2029 Sacramento Kings second-round pick, league sources told [HoopsHype]."
There are levels to which this looks bad for the Lakers. It all starts with the original trade that acquired Finney-Smith from the Brooklyn Nets itself.
Rob Pelinka losing key assets hurts Lakers on multiple fronts
For what it's worth, this is all a 'benefit of hindsight' type of situation for the Lakers. The trade to originally acquire Finney-Smith did look like a good one at the time it was made. However, given how everything has unfolded since, it is hard to still feel that way.
The Lakers sent D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three future second-round picks to the Nets in order to secure Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. That looks like a steep price to pay when looking at it from today's lens.
Giving up the second-round draft capital to acquire Finney-Smith is what comes across as a particularly difficult sacrifice now. Those picks could have been used to entice the Rockets to send Whitmore to Hollywood, or in any other deal of the sort that required a sweetening of the pot.
There was an equally poor use of leverage for the Lakers when the Rockets went over their mid-level to acquire both Finney-Smith and Clint Capela this offseason. One of those signings needed to be turned into a sign-and-trade. The Lakers could not ensure that it would be them.
The Rockets don't have enough remaining in their mid-level to sign Clint Capela to these terms.
It looks like a sign and trade is coming, either with this deal or for Dorian Finney-Smith. https://t.co/JXlDbbj1wx
— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) June 30, 2025
The argument in defense of Rob Pelinka here would be that the Rockets were not likely very interested in doing business to directly aid another Western Conference rival. That much is probably a fair thought, to a certain capacity.
However, reports from Zach Lowe on the 'bad negotiations' with regard to Finney-Smith's contract situation do not paint Pelinka in much of a positive light. The Lakers ultimately walked away with Jake LaRavia instead and a little more cap flexibility instead, leading to the DeAndre Ayton signing.
Things could have went much worse for Los Angeles than they did. However, it is difficult to ignore the missteps that are apparent now at multiple points along the path travelled by Pelinka and the front office, mismanaging the assets at their disposal.