After his second stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, the one-time Warriors guard is on to his second stint with the Brooklyn Nets. Based on his career pattern, he’ll be back with the Warriors in 2027.
For 33 thrilling games in 2019-20, D’Angelo Russell was a member of the Golden State Warriors. He averaged 23.6 points and 6.2 assists, shot 37.4% from three-point range and the team went 8-25. Then, the relationship ended, with Russell traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves to form a “Little Three” with Karl-Anthony Towns and Malik Beasley, while the Warriors got Andrew Wiggins and a first-round pick that became Jonathan Kuminga.
Since then, he rejoined his original team, the Los Angeles Lakers, where he helped them to a conference finals sweep in 2023, then got benched, un-benched, and re-benched by coaches Darvin Ham and JJ Redick. Now Russell is rejoining his second team, the Brooklyn Nets, in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton (Brooklyn also gets three second-round picks and 22-year-old forward Maxwell Lewis). Should the pattern continue, we’re two years away from Russell going back to the Warriors again, before a return trip to Minnesota.
For the Lakers, this replaces a scoring guard who’d fallen out of the starting lineup with a three-and-D wing in Finney-Smith. DFS is averaging 10.4 points and making 43.5% of his three-point shots this season. He’s making just under $15 million, and had a player option for next season worth $15.4M.
Milton will replace Russell at backup point guard. After an injury-marred 2023-24 season where he played for three teams, Milton is back to his steady play off the bench. He’s only scoring 7.4 points, but he shoots 39% from three-point range, ideal for a guard who’s more likely to catch-and-shoot alongside LeBron James than have to create his own offense.
For Brooklyn, they traded with the Houston Rockets before the season to get back some of the first-rounders they lost in their ill-fated James Harden deal. The whole point of that move was allowing them to tank, a process they started by sending Dennis Schroder to the Warriors, also in exchange for three second-rounders. Cameron Johnson and Bojan Bogdanovic may be the next players out the door, along with Russell himself.
Normally, Russell would be a prime buyout candidate. But because Russell makes more than the mid-level exception, the new CBA precludes teams that are above the first or second tax apron from signing him after such a buyout. That eliminates most playoff contenders.
Though maybe someone should take a shot. After all, teams who either trade for or trade away Russell have enjoyed playoff success right after. The Nets traded Russell in 2019, and came one Kevin Durant shoe size away from a likely Finals berth in 2021. The Warriors traded Russell in 2020 and won the title in 2022. The Lakers went to the conference finals in 2023 after acquiring Russell at the deadline, and the Timberwolves made the conference finals one year later.
It could be a good omen for the Lakers. Or it could mean the Nets’ rebuild will be lightning-quick. Or it could mean that Russell ends up on a team like the Oklahoma City Thunder or Memphis Grizzlies and leads them to a title. All we know is that Brooklyn won’t be the last stop on Russell’s long NBA journey.
