Sunday Best: How and why the Lakers swooped in ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies to trade for Dorian Finney-Smith

And, most crucially, what happens next on the NBA trade market

Around-the-league NBA notes on a Sunday?

On the eve of LeBron James' 40th birthday?

On the Sunday that delivered the NBA's third trade of a busy December?

As it should be!

To the latest from my notebook after LeBron's Los Angeles Lakers sneaked in ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies to trade for Brooklyn's Dorian Finney-Smith ... and the various ripple effects that will be felt throughout the league this Trade Season in the wake of the Lakers' first trade of note since the deadline-day acquisitions of D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley and Mo Bamba in February 2023:

Why did the Nets choose the Lakers' offer for Finney-Smith over the Grizzlies' offer?

Two main reasons: