D’Angelo Russell is back on the open market, and the timing makes the move harder to read as just another roster shuffle.
The Memphis Grizzlies waived the veteran point guard on Friday ahead of training camp, according to the reporting provided, making him a free agent about a month before the NBA season begins. It is the latest turn in a stretch that has left Russell without a game played for either the Wizards or the Grizzlies, even as he has continued to move from team to team.
That matters because Russell is not a fringe name trying to break through. He was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, and he has logged 655 games across 11 NBA seasons. But the version of Russell teams are evaluating now looks very different from the player who had his last strong year in 2023-24 with the Lakers, when he averaged 18 points and five assists.
Since then, the numbers have been less persuasive. Russell averaged 10.2 points and 4.0 assists in 26 games for Dallas last season, and he shot 29.5 percent from three-point range. Those figures help explain why his availability is being framed less as a simple veteran addition and more as a test of how much confidence teams still have in his current value.
Memphis’ own move points in a different direction. The Grizzlies signed undrafted guard Brendan Hausen, who played four seasons at Kansas State and Iowa, as part of what Sportsnet described as the team’s latest rebuild. In that context, waiving Russell ahead of camp reads as another step toward younger, less expensive roster bets rather than a commitment to a veteran backcourt piece.
The question now is not just where Russell lands, but how many teams are willing to treat him as more than a short-term gamble.
That is where Cleveland enters the conversation. A Yardbarker piece argued the Cavaliers should not take a chance on Russell, even though the team has been mentioned as needing guard depth. The caution is notable because it shows how a player with Russell’s résumé can still be met with hesitation when the recent production does not match the name value.
Yardbarker described Russell as a high-usage role player with significant red flags, and Cleveland was framed as potentially better off sticking with its current roster. That kind of warning is a sharp contrast to the expectations that followed Russell when he entered the league as a top-two pick. It also reflects the reality of his current market: experience alone is no longer enough to make the fit obvious.
For Russell, the waiver is more than a transaction line. It leaves him available just as teams are finalizing camp decisions, with his recent stops in Dallas, Washington and Memphis all failing to produce a stable landing spot. For the Grizzlies, it is another sign that the roster is being sorted with younger players in mind. For the rest of the league, it is a reminder that a veteran point guard with 655 games on his résumé can still find his market narrowing fast.