Until recently, it wasn’t public knowledge that veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith would likely be sidelined at the start of the 2025-26 NBA regular season.

But while the news came as a surprise to some fans, it’s important to note that the Houston Rockets were well aware of it when they chose to sign Finney-Smith to a multi-year contract at the end of June.

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Thus, from the perspective of the Rockets — who are primarily focused on making a deep run in the 2026 Western Conference playoffs next spring — there is no reason for alarm or any sense of panic.

Via ESPN’s The Hoop Collective podcast, Tim MacMahon said:

It’s important to note, this is not a surprise to the Rockets. Finney-Smith played hurt all of last year, like he could not jump, at all, because of that ankle. They understood that coming off of that surgery (in June), that he wasn’t going to be ready for training camp.

I don’t want to put an exact timetable on it because I don’t know for certain, but there’s certainly an anticipation that he will miss some games to start the regular season.

Because Finney-Smith had his surgery earlier that month, the Rockets were able to look at his medicals and take the ankle surgery into account before doing the deal.

In other words, the Rockets are hopeful that the surgery will have corrected the previous issue — and perhaps make the 32-year-old an even more impactful player than he was last season. If they feared otherwise, presumably they would signed someone else for that role (with a starting annual salary of $12.7 million, there were certainly other options).

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For now, it seems he simply needs more time to recover and build back up from the surgery.

While not yet cleared for contact activities, head coach Ime Udoka noted at this week’s training camp that Finney-Smith is already a partial participant.

“No contact, but doing all the shooting and other things, as well as getting treatment during practice,” Udoka said of his current status.

In comments at Monday’s media day, the 6-foot-7 forward suggested that it wouldn’t be a lengthy delay.

“Soon,” Finney-Smith said of a potential return timetable. “I’ve been running, so it’s been getting better.”

His ankle injury had lingered during previous seasons.

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“I’m a competitor, I want to play, but sometimes I probably made the injury worse because I don’t like to sit out,” he explained. “You might have to save me from myself, and I wish I’d have somebody to tell me to take it easy, two years ago. But that’s what got me here. Being that hard-nosed guy, sometimes the things that get you where you’re at can also hurt you. So, I’m learning, and sometimes I have to listen to my body.”

Finney-Smith averaged 69.9 games per season (at 29.5 minutes per game) over the last seven NBA campaigns, and he also played in 40 additional playoff games (at 35.5 minutes) over that span. In hindsight, it appears that type of mileage may have taken a cumulative toll.

As for the 2025-26 Rockets, any Finney-Smith absence is likely to open up more minutes at the forward spots for players such as Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, and Jae’Sean Tate.

Beyond being a strong and versatile defender who communicates well, Finney-Smith brings offensive value as a shooter and floor spacer — as evidenced by his career-high clip of 41.1% last season on 3-pointers.

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Neither Smith, Eason, nor Tate has come close to that mark to this point in their careers, which will make it a challenge for Udoka and the Rockets to fill Finney-Smith’s shoes.

The hope is that it won’t be a long one.

More: Rockets say Dorian Finney-Smith will likely miss regular-season time due to ankle rehab

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: ESPN: Rockets signed Dorian Finney-Smith knowing likely injury absence