As a means of slimming down its roster with an eye towards the start of the 2026-27 NBA regular season, on Friday, the Memphis Grizzlies waived guard D’Angelo Russell, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
With Russell now an unrestricted free agent, it begs the question: should the Chicago Bulls enter the D’Angelo Russell market and explore signing the free agent guard to the Bulls' final active roster spot?
Russell is an 11-year NBA veteran and intimately aware of the nuances of a rebuilding NBA franchise as a member of the post-Kobe Bryant and pre-LeBron James Los Angeles Lakers from 2015 to 2017 and the pre-Kevin Durant & Kyrie Irving Brooklyn Nets from 2017 to 2019. Rebuilds need good veterans, right?
Yes and no. The Chicago Bulls indeed are in a roster rebuild. However, the Bulls are far from a collection of feral rookies who don’t know how to live through an 82-game NBA regular season.
There’s nuance king Norman Powell, a hopefully healed Nic Claxton, and everybody’s second favorite Zach LaVine-trade spare parts return, Zach Collins.
The Bulls are sufficiently covered in veteran presence within their locker room. On the merit of veteran presence alone, Russell doesn't fill a need for the 2026-27 Bulls. What about Russell’s on-court contributions?
Rationalizing Russell for 2026
D’Angelo Russell has never been shy about getting up three-point attempts. Over his entire NBA career, he averages 6.8 three-point attempts per game.
There was also a time when Russell converted his three-point shooting to optimal results. In five combined seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Russell delivered a 37.6% three-point shooting percentage. In his continuous, longest-tenured NBA stay, four seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Russell was a 36.6% three-point shooter.
Looking at D’Angelo Russell’s three-point shooting over his last 84 NBA regular-season games across the Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets, and Dallas Mavericks, culminating in the conclusion of the 2025-26 NBA season, Russell’s three-point shooting accuracy is in steep decline with a 30.9% three-point shooting percentage on 5.6 three-point attempts per game.
Russell has always been able to accumulate assists and straddle the fence between a traditional point guard and a secondary creator when sharing the floor with a clear number one primary creator such as LeBron James.
However, playing D’Angelo Russell as point guard, with a clear spacing deficiency in his three-point shooting, would likely look a lot like Josh Giddey before he was traded to the Bulls and discovered his off-ball three-point shot.
Russell’s traditional NBA game being played behind the three-point line also means he’s rarely put himself into a position to play with guard physicality that has become more prevalent in paint-touch heavy guards like Cade Cunningham, Stephon Castle, or TJ McConnell.
D’Angelo Russell needs to hit threes with above-average consistency in order to be a high-functioning NBA player, and without that shot, he doesn’t have a viable contribution to deliver to the Bulls as they navigate a roster rebuild.
