Now that Dorian Finney-Smith is a Laker he is witnessing firsthand just how good Anthony Davis is as a defender.
When Dorian Finney-Smith was traded to the Lakers, it was clear Los Angeles made the deal to obtain a 3-and-D player.
Vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka mentioned these attributes, specifically saying DFS brought "physicality, toughness and elite shooting" to the team.
So far, three games into his Lakers career, he has been as good as expected on the defensive side of the ball.
DFS automatically makes the Lakers a bigger more physical team and he has the best plus-minus on the roster at +10 since joining the franchise.
While the DFS era has gotten off to a good start, there is still work to do. Even though NBA teams have similar playbooks, there are enough differences that a couple of practices and a few games aren't enough to grasp everything.
After the team's win against the Hawks, DFS acknowledged the work he had to do and expressed his admiration for Anthony Davis' defensive game.
"I'm still messing up pick and roll coverages a little bit because I could switch with so many people and I'm not used to it," Finney-Smith said. "Like, I messed up one of those switches with AD and he's like, 'Doe, come on, we're switching.' I'm like, 'Damn.' I’m not used to the [center] wanting to guard the main guy. So it's been fun but also surprising."
DFS isn't the only player shocked by AD's elite defensive level once he witnessed it in person.
Recently on the "Run Your Race" podcast, former Laker Spencer Dinwiddie called playing with AD a "cheat code" due to his elite rim protection. Dinwiddie even went as far as to say playing alongside Davis made him feel like an All-Star defender.
With Finney-Smith already an elite defender, pairing him alongside AD will undoubtedly raise the Lakers' defensive ceiling. Even with this small sample size, we've seen good early returns on this.
Once DFS gets more situated, this team's chemistry will only improve. This is likely one reason the franchise wants to wait and see how good the new-look Lakers can be before making another deal. However, they are reportedly "open" to making another trade if it leads to "sustainable Lakers excellence."
For now, the team sits in a great position as the fourth seed in the West and has room to improve with these two new additions and, hopefully, the eventual return of Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood.
Having homecourt for a potential first-round series gives you an outside chance at title contention and with more games in front of them than behind for this season, the Lakers might be in a position now to really make some noise.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.
