D'Angelo Russell is headed to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the massive six-team trade announced Tuesday, arriving in Tennessee as a salary filler rather than a cornerstone and almost certainly headed elsewhere via buyout or another trade before training camp.
Russell, 30, was acquired by the Washington Wizards in the midseason Anthony Davis trade but never reported to the organization, he simply did not show up, despite exercising his $6 million player option for 2026-27.
Washington needed him off the books to complete the Khris Middleton sign-and-trade, and Memphis was willing to absorb the contract in exchange for a future second-round pick and a second-round pick swap.
The Grizzlies also sent Isaiah Stewart to Memphis from Detroit and Santi Aldama to Dallas in the same transaction.
Russell was the second overall pick in the 2015 draft, made the All-Star team with the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 and has since bounced through seven NBA organizations.
Last season he averaged 10 points in just 26 games for Dallas, the worst statistical year of his career. He does not fit Memphis's rebuild around Ja Morant's replacement and the young core of Cameron Boozer and Karim Lopez.
He is expected to be bought out or moved quickly so he can sign with a team of his choosing.
Memphis is building something new. D'Angelo Russell is passing through.