D’Angelo Russell signs with new team on surprisingly small deal

D’Angelo Russell is taking a discount to head back to the Western Conference.

The former All-Star guard Russell has agreed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks in free agency, Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Monday. The two sides have agreed to a deal for two years and $13 million.

Russell, still only 29, finished out last season with the Brooklyn Nets after being traded by the Los Angeles Lakers in February. Overall on the year, Russell averaged 12.6 points and 5.1 assists per game on 39/31/83 shooting splits.

Even with the down statistics however, that is still a shockingly small contract for Russell at just $6.5 million per year. In terms of average annual value, that puts Russell on par with guards like Shaedon Sharpe, Cody Williams, and Cason Wallace (all of whom are still on their rookie contracts). The 10-year veteran Russell has multiple 20-ppg seasons under his belt already and even made an All-Star team with the Nets in 2019.

But it appears that Russell is valuing the situation with the Mavericks above all. Kyrie Irving could miss all of next season with a torn ACL, which means that Russell will immediately become Dallas’ projected starting point guard. With Russell’s former star teammates Anthony Davis and Klay Thompson in town as well as No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, the Mavericks should be a pretty fun team to be on next season.

In recent days, Dallas had indeed been regarded as the favorites to sign Russell in free agency. For Russell himself, it probably helps too that there is no state income tax in Texas, helping to reduce the blow of his very modest new contract with the Mavericks.