The Grizzlies are getting D’Angelo Russell, but Memphis is also inheriting the same hard lesson Dallas already absorbed: the name still carries weight, yet the production may not.
Russell was part of the massive six-team trade finalized today between the Mavericks and Grizzlies. Dallas sent Marcus Sasser, Santi Aldama, and the draft rights to Tarik Biberovic to the Mavs, while AJ Johnson, Russell, and Isaiah Stewart went to Memphis.
For the Grizzlies, the real question is simple: which version of Russell are they actually getting?
Memphis acquired him from the Washington Wizards in the deal, though Dallas had already moved him to Washington as part of the Anthony Davis trade back in February. Russell never played a game for the Wizards, and the last time he was on the floor was January 10. That’s the reality Memphis is stepping into - not the polished scorer who once looked like a long-term answer.
There was a time when Russell could fill it up from anywhere and swing games with his shotmaking. He has averaged 18+ points per game five different times, and he built a reputation as a guard who could score at all three levels and rise in big moments.
But that player has faded. Dallas found that out fast last season.
Mavericks fans hoped Russell would help carry the load alongside Cooper Flagg, but the fit never came close to matching the expectation. He was supposed to help replace Kyrie Irving’s production while Irving was out, yet the front office’s belief in that role didn’t line up with what the coaching staff actually did.
Jason Kidd didn’t lean on him much at all. Russell played just 24 minutes over his first two games with Dallas, including only nine minutes in the second one. Brandon Williams and Ryan Nembhard were the preferred starters, and Russell’s role kept shrinking from there.
By January, the situation had fully collapsed. He was a DNP-CD in every game that month except one, and that lone appearance came when Kidd was ejected and Frank Vogel inserted him.
Russell’s confidence hasn’t disappeared, even if the results have. The 30-year-old guard, once an All-Star and a starter for multiple playoff teams, said on an Instagram post reporting his move to Memphis that he could "still be dangerous" - wherever he ends up.
That belief is part of what has made him such a polarizing player. But confidence only goes so far when the shot isn’t falling, the turnovers pile up, and the effort doesn’t always match the reputation.
Now Memphis has to decide how much to trust him. Will he actually get real minutes, or will the Grizzlies lean on their young players the way Dallas did? That’s the next test, and it comes with the same warning label the Mavericks already learned the hard way.
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