The Dallas Mavericks only added one external free agent this offseason, bringing in D’Angelo Russell to be the stopgap until Kyrie Irving returns from his ACL injury. The former second overall pick has had two stints with the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets, and he recently made a telling statement about his first tenure with the Lakers.
“I came from the Lakers, where the structure is not the same, and then I go to Brooklyn, where it’s all structure, and it taught me how to be a professional,” Russell said on Dwyane Wade’s podcast. “I always approached the game to where I was nonchalant and I felt like I could just wing it… they taught me how to be a professional, how to sleep, how to eat, how to recover.”
D’Angelo Russell’s first tenure with the Lakers. Most will remember the “snitching” incident between him and Nick Young, sending a video of him cheating to Young’s then-girlfriend, Iggy Azalea. But those teams were also just bad. Russell was with the Lakers for his first two seasons before being traded to Brooklyn, but the Lakers were 43-121 in his first stint. That’s not exactly a great place to build a culture, especially when Nick Young was his veteran.
He blossomed in Brooklyn, making his first and only All-Star Game appearance in 2019, averaging 21.1 PPG and 7.0 APG that season. He’s bounced around since then, being sent to the Golden State Warriors as part of the sign-and-trade for Kevin Durant. He was then sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves before second stints with the Lakers and Nets.
Russell now joins Dallas, looking to bounce back from a down season a year ago. It was arguably the worst season of his professional career last year, even if he was traded midseason. The Mavericks will need him to be productive again.
The Mavericks have a frontcourt-heavy roster with not a lot of shooting or playmaking. They’ll be relying a lot on Cooper Flagg early, which may be great for his development, but questionable for the success of the team. Rookies rarely drive winning.
If D’Angelo Russell plays how he did last season, where he averaged 12.6 PPG and 5.1 APG while shooting just 31.4% from three, it may be a struggle for the Mavs to win games early. They need him to shoot the three well and to get downhill more to create for others, something he wasn’t doing as effectively last season. Betting on D’Angelo Russell in 2025 is an interesting gamble, one that may not pay off for Dallas.
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