Mavericks receive middling grade for D'Angelo Russell signing

However, not everyone is a fan of the deal. Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey graded every free agency signing of night one of free agency, and gave the Mavs a "C-" for the D'Angelo Russell signing.

"This is good value for D'Angelo Russell, a 29-year-old playmaker, who hit 38.4 percent of his three-point attempts over the four seasons prior to this one (when his three-point percentage plummeted to 31.4).

"With Kyrie Irving likely to miss the bulk of the campaign, the Dallas Mavericks can use Russell's shooting, as well as his ability to manipulate defenders as a pick-and-roll ball-handler.

"But he also consistently ranks among the league's worst defenders in Dunks and Threes' estimated plus-minus, so this signing sort of flies in the face of Nico Harrison's near-constant preaching of "defense wins championships" in the wake of the Luka Dončić deal."

As Bailey mentioned, Russell's three-point shooting fell off a cliff last season. Whether or not he can bounce back from that will arguably be the biggest indication of whether this signing works or not. Ideally, Russell balls out and he opts out of his deal next season, but even if he does come back, it's not a deal that'll significantly handicap the team in the future.