Former All-Star guard favored to land with Mavericks

With Kyrie Irving possibly out of commission for all of next season, the Dallas Mavericks could be bringing in another former Brooklyn Nets All-Star.

The Mavericks are increasingly seen as the favorites to sign veteran guard D'Angelo Russell, NBA writer Marc Stein reported to Substack over the weekend. The news comes ahead of the official opening of NBA free agency at 6 PM EST on June 30.

Russell, 29, split time last season between the Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 12.6 points and 5.1 assists per game overall but did so on subpar 39/31/83 shooting splits. Prior to that, Russell was an All-Star selection with the Nets during the 2018-19 season.

Meanwhile, Dallas is low on primary offensive creators right now, especially in their backcourt. Irving is nursing a torn ACL that he suffered last March, and the likes of Spencer Dinwiddie and Dante Exum are unrestricted free agents this summer.

Russell, an unrestricted free agent himself, played in Los Angeles with current Mavericks Anthony Davis and Max Christie. He was also teammates on the Golden State Warriors with Dallas’ Klay Thompson from 2019-20 (though that was when Thompson was sidelined while recovering from a torn ACL).

The Mavericks could get creative in the backcourt next season in Irving’s absence, possibly even by utilizing No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg in an interesting way. But they would make matters a lot easier for their offense by signing a proven ball-handler and shot creator like Russell to take some of the pressure off.