D’Angelo Russell is prepared to take this offseason in stride.
Russell, who’s coming off a career year with the Nets, is about to become an unrestricted free agent, casting some uncertainty over the 23-year-old’s future. His situation is further complicated by Brooklyn’s potential pursuit of other superstars, like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, although it sounds like Russell is OK with hanging in the balance.
“It’s more of just the waiting game as far as chess moves have to be made,” Russell recently told the New York Post. “There’s a lot of big fish out there that have to find their destinations so I think I’ll (fall in line after that).
“There are a lot of fish out there that need to find destinations. So whenever that time comes then I have decisions to make on my own, I think I’ll be well ready for it.”
The Nets have been heavily linked to Irving, who can opt out of his contract with the Boston Celtics. The sides reportedly hold mutual interest. It’s unclear where exactly that leaves Russell, who, like Irving, plays point guard and has a very high usage rate. But Brooklyn’s back court would be among the NBA’s most talented with both Irving and Russell in tow, and it’s hard to imagine the Nets turning down the opportunity to pursue the former despite the strides the latter made this season amid the team’s surprising success.
“If we’re being completely honest, I enjoyed the team that we had this whole season,” Russell told The Post. “If the situation was to come up to have pieces of his caliber around, it’ll make us a better team obviously. But I’m not going to say I didn’t enjoy our team, and the pieces we had around.”
Russell, who began his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, earned his first All-Star selection during the 2018-19 campaign. His reward could be the addition of a high-profile teammate or a ticket out of town. Stay tuned.
