D'Angelo Russell will not play for the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Memphis Grizzlies will trade or buy out veteran guard D'Angelo Russell, according to Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports.
Memphis acquired Russell from the Washington Wizards this offseason.
Russell will make $5.9 million next season in the final year of his contract. He's better suited to play for a winning team at this stage of his career.
A one-time All-Star, Russell played in 26 games with the Dallas Mavericks last season before getting traded to the Wizards in the blockbuster Anthony Davis trade. Russell, like Davis, didn't appear in a game with Washington.
D'Lo finished last season with averages of 10.2 points and 4.0 assists per game with Dallas.
Russell has played for the Los Angeles Lakers (twice), Brooklyn Nets (twice), Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Mavericks. He holds career averages of 17.0 points and 5.6 assists per game in the regular season and 14.2 points and 4.8 assists per game in the playoffs.
Russell went to the Western Conference Finals in 2023 with the Lakers. It will be intriguing to see if the Grizzlies trade or buy out Russell, who was the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft out of Ohio State.
The Grizzlies are in rebuild mode after trading Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz last season and Ja Morant to the Portland Trail Blazers this offseason. In the post-Morant era, the Grizzlies will be led by Cameron Boozer, Zach Edey, Cedric Coward, GG Jackson and Karim López.
It will be a while before the Grizzlies make the playoffs again. However, at least they have a young building block in Boozer, who won the Player of the Year Award last season. The Duke forward averaged 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 55.6% from the field, 39.1% from beyond the arc and 78.9% from the free-throw line.
In Summer League, Boozer played well, averaging 18.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 45.2% from the field, 33.3% from beyond the arc and 77.3% from the free-throw line. The youngster made the Summer League First Team and led Memphis to the championship game, a contest the Golden State Warriors won.
Selected third overall in the 2026 draft behind AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson, Boozer is expected to be a day-one starter for the Grizzlies alongside Cedric Coward, last season's All-Rookie First Team selection. Boozer's combination of playmaking, physicality and positional flexibility as a 6-foot-10 forward has drawn comparisons to the multi-skilled roster construction that defined the New York Knicks' championship approach, per Tony Jones of The Athletic.
“Versatility is the name of the game. That’s what teams are looking for,” Boozer told The Athletic. “Teams want five guys who can make plays. Look at the Knicks this year. Everyone on that team was capable of doing more than one thing. Everyone was capable of playing on or off the basketball. That’s what I feel like I can do best. I can screen. I can handle it. You can put me in a lot of different scenarios.”
