The Los Angeles Lakers fell short against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. But there were positive things to take away from the loss. The first was that the Cavaliers have the best record in basketball, and L.A. was able to hang tough for most of the game. The second was the generally positive debuts from Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton.

The Lakers formally acquired Finney-Smith and Milton from the Brooklyn Nets over the weekend, and they were able to debut them before the calendar flipped to 2025. Finney-Smith didn’t make much of an impact on the stat sheet, but was a plus-7 in 20 minutes of action. Meanwhile, Milton hit his first two 3-pointers with the team.

Against the team with the best record in basketball, it would have been hard to expect either player to make an instant winning impact. Both, however, still had moments to shine. Milton was able to quickly reflect on his debut and the emotions that came from it.

“I think it’s a balance,” Milton said of wanting to just play and soak in the emotions. “When you first get on the court and you’re first in the tunnel, you’re excited and it’s like a wave of emotions. So you definitely want to give yourself time to just kind of soak that all in.

“But once the ball is tipped, it’s just basketball so once I check in the game and run up and down the court, it feels normal. It feels natural. So it was dope, it was really cool.”

Milton believes it will take time to fully realize what his impact with the Lakers will be. But he saw in the Cleveland loss some of the ways he might be able to help, even if the Cavaliers were a difficult first opponent.

“Cleveland is a really tough team and you could tell they definitely made a jump in just the way that they’re playing. For myself, it was just kind of trying to get in the flow and try to get the feel of what it feels like being out there,” Milton said.

“I felt good. Just trying to see how I can impact the team, whether that’s just spacing the floor more, setting screens, how I can have more of an impact on the game, getting steals, deflections, rebounds, stuff like that. But I think that will just come natural being out there and playing a little bit more and getting a feel of where guys like to be and where I should be on the floor as well.

“Overall, I felt pretty good. Definitely wanted to get a win, especially in your first time putting on a jersey like that. But I feel good about where we’re headed and it’s fun to be on a team where that’s what the expectation is. The expectation is to win. So I’m excited about that.”

It was a fun moment for Lakers fans when Milton drilled his first triple. But that was another moment for Milton where the focus remained on the team and the game.

“No. Honestly, not at all,” Milton said of being able to process drilling his first shot. “It’s just kind of next play mentality. But it is pretty cool. It really was pretty cool, something you definitely like when a foul happens or you get subbed out and you kind of reflect on it and think about it and I did. But in the moment, it’s just kind of like bang, bang and you just react. But it was really cool.”

The Lakers and Milton will spend some time figuring out how he can best impact the team as a reserve guard. While Finney-Smith’s role is a little more obvious and defined, Milton’s may take some time to fully realize. But his debut was a great start for both him and the team.

Lakers plan to see how new players fit before making more deals

The Lakers have shown improvements recently, especially on the defensive end, and general manager Rob Pelinka and the front office are leaning more into that with the Nets deal. This move alone won’t make the Lakers into championship contenders, however, and the question now is whether another trade is coming.

But if there are other moves to make it likely won’t come in the immediate future. According to recent reports, the Lakers are expected to see how Finney-Smith and Milton fit with the team before re-evaluating the trade market for another possible deal.