It was predictable. Having gradually shed weight in the NBA, D’Angelo Russell has finally packed his bags to sample the sweetness of another basketball league, specifically in China with the Shanghai Sharks.
According to Andrea Calzoni, the deal between the parties is fully closed awaiting official confirmation, so the 30-year-old point guard will leave the American competition after 655 games and having been an All-Star in 2019 with the Brooklyn Nets.
Although his offensive talent has never been in doubt, in an NBA that is more physical than ever and in which the five players on the floor must do everything, this Ohio State University product’s laxity on defense has taken its toll.
As we were saying, seeing him changing air to play in the Asian country isn’t a surprise. In the last season, the 2025-26 campaign, he fell out of the Dallas Mavericks’ rotation before being traded to the Washington Wizards, a team that recently sent him to Memphis, where he has been released.
Although it is surely not what he expected for his career, we must not overlook that he is the No. 2 pick of the 2015 draft and that over 11 seasons he has averaged 17 points, 5.6 assists and 2.9 rebounds per night.
