D'Angelo Russell is heading overseas for the first time in his professional career after agreeing to join the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association.
The 30-year-old former NBA All-Star has reached an agreement with Shanghai for the 2026-27 season, according to multiple reports.
The move comes just days after the Memphis Grizzlies waived Russell on September 25 as they trimmed their roster ahead of training camp.
Russell had only arrived in Memphis during the offseason as part of the six-team trade involving the Washington Wizards. He leaves the Grizzlies without appearing in a regular-season game for the franchise.
The No. 2 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft has spent his entire professional career in the NBA, appearing in 655 regular-season games across 11 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks.
Russell earned his lone All-Star selection with Brooklyn in 2019 and holds NBA career averages of 17.0 points, 5.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game.
Last season, Russell appeared in 26 games for Dallas and averaged 10.2 points and 4.0 assists before being traded to Washington and subsequently moved to Memphis during the offseason.
Terms of Russell's agreement with Shanghai have not yet been disclosed.
Only a few years ago, Russell was still playing significant minutes for NBA teams with postseason ambitions. Now, at 30, the former No. 2 pick and All-Star is taking his career outside the NBA for the first time.
That doesn't necessarily mean his NBA career is finished.
A productive spell in China could easily put Russell back on NBA radars, particularly for teams looking for experienced ball-handling and shooting later in the season or further down the line.
But the speed of this change is striking.
Russell exercised his player option earlier this year, moved from Dallas to Washington, was then sent to Memphis in a huge six-team trade and was waived before ever playing a regular-season game for the Grizzlies.
Five days later, his next stop is Shanghai.
For the Sharks, this is a significant addition. Whatever questions have surrounded Russell's NBA fit in recent seasons, they are adding a player with 655 NBA games, an All-Star appearance and career averages of 17 points and 5.6 assists.
LEAN EDGE VERDICT
D'Angelo Russell heading to China at 30 is one of the more unexpected moves of this offseason.
This shouldn't automatically be viewed as the end of his NBA career. We've seen players use successful spells overseas to create another route back into the league.
But it does mark the beginning of a very different chapter.
Eleven NBA seasons, five franchises and an All-Star selection later, DLo is heading overseas for the first time.
What happens in Shanghai could determine whether this becomes a detour from the NBA or the start of the next phase of his career.
