The Dallas Mavericks have made a questionable move at the start of free agency.
Per Shams Charania of ESPN, Dallas is signing veteran point guard D'Angelo Russell to a two-year deal. Russell will have a player option for 2026-27.
With nine-time All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving presumably set to recuperate from his midseason ACL tear through at least the first few months of 2025-26, Russell will likely serve as a fill-in lead guard for the Mavericks at first.
The 6-foot-4 vet is a seasoned — and well-traveled — pro.
While he generally falls apart in the playoff, he can be a totally serviceable regular season piece.
Still, the Mavericks had also been linked more consistent players like Dennis Schroder (who once upon a time supplanted D'Angelo Russell in the 2023 Los Angeles Lakers' playoff rotation), former 12-time All-Star Chris Paul, and former Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon — any of whom would be a better fit for the Mavericks than Russell.
Across 58 games for the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets last season, the 6-foot-3 Ohio State product averaged a combined 12.6 points on .390/.314/.834 shooting splits — his worst scoring and floor shooting numbers ever (the free throw rate was pretty solid). He also chipped in 5.1 points, 2.8 boards, and 1.0 steals.
Although Russell had been chiefly a reserve for the Lakers, he was promoted to a starting role after being flipped to the Nets as the chief contract returning in L.A.'s deal for 3-and-D Dorian Finney-Smith, whose acquisition instantly improved the team on both sides of the ball.
Russell does have value during a regular season, which is primarily when he'll be useful for Dallas, but on a team looking to ostensibly contend in the Western Conference, the signing is a bit of a head-scratcher.