After being refused last week by the Grizzlies, a veteran point guard D’Angelo Russell he is reportedly heading overseas to continue his playing career.
According to a Chinese Basketball Association social media post, Russell has signed a contract with the Shanghai Sharks.Link to Instagram). Chinese basketball journalist Zhang Duo (Link to Twitter) was originally reported to have D-Lo inked a deal with the Sharks.
Russell, the second overall pick in the 2015 draft, has career averages of 17.0 points and 5.6 assists per game in 655 regular-season NBA games for five teams and was named a 2019 All-Star, but his output has declined dramatically in recent years.
After averaging 12.6 ppg on .390/.314/.834 shooting in 58 games for the Lakers and Nets in 2024-25, Russell signed with Dallas last summer in hopes of replacing him Kyrie Irving as the team’s starting point guard while Irving recovered from an Achilles tear. However, the head coach of the Mavericks Jason Kidd started the season with experiments Cooper Flagg at the point guard spot and eventually preferred to wideout Brandon Williams and Ryan Nembhard over Russell, who averaged 10.2 points per shin while shooting .405/.295/.717 in 26 games (three starts).
The Mavericks traded Russell to the Wizards at the 2026 trade deadline Anthony Davis blockbuster, but he wasn’t required to report to his new team for the second half of the season. After exercising his player option in June, the 30-year-old guard was traded to Memphis in July as part of trading six teams that is involved Isaiah Stewart, Saint Aldama, John Collinsand Chris Middletonamong others.
After Russell was released last week, reports indicated he hoped to join a playoff contender, but there likely wasn’t much interest in the veteran in the league. He projects to play a major role in the CBA for Shanghai after seeing his NBA playing time dwindle over the past couple of seasons.
