Dorian Finney-Smith, the Dallas Mavericks’ undrafted rookie forward, was nominated for Western Conference Rookie of the Month for December 2016. The award went to New Orleans Pelicans’ guard Buddy Hield.
While he didn’t win, it’s nice to see Finney-Smith getting the league-wide recognition he deserves. In December, he averaged 6.6 points on 44.6 percent shooting, including 36.8 percent from behind the arc, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in just over 27 minutes per game. Finney-Smith started all but one of the Mavericks’ 17 games in December.
His box numbers don’t tell the whole story, though. Finney-Smith has established himself as one of the best defenders on the team and regularly guards some of the league’s best players.
Here at Mavs Moneyball, we’ve been singing the praises of Finney-Smith ever since he made a name for himself taking on and locking down Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Mavericks first win of the season on November 6. He played great in that game and received the game ball, a rare honor. Since then, he has only continued to improve.
With the Rookie of the Month nomination nod, maybe more people will start to pay attention to the Mavs’ diamond in the rough.