The Dallas Mavericks are committed to a vision that Los Angeles Lakers fans are painfully familiar with. It began when the Mavericks acquired Anthony Davis and Max Christie from Los Angeles and paired them with Lakers superstar LeBron James' former championship teammate, Kyrie Irving.
It's now continuing with Dallas targeting a player who once played alongside both Christie and Davis during a polarizing period in franchise history: D'Angelo Russell.
Russell spent two stints with the Lakers, with each tenure ending with a trade to the Brooklyn Nets. During that time, he became one of the most polarizing players in Los Angeles, thriving statistically but struggling to fill the role fans expected of him.
Fast forward to the 2025 offseason and the Mavericks are looking to recreate the Lakers' formula for past success by targeting Russell in free agency.
More on this topic: Dallas is now regarded as a leading suitor for D'Angelo Russell, sources tell @TheSteinLine.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 25, 2025
The Mavs can make a free agent run at Russell because Kyrie Irving's new deal has a lower Year 1 salary than his $43M player option.
More: https://t.co/WcPtjzmQVQ https://t.co/e59gLp0BbY
Dallas could certainly find value in acquiring Russell, but Los Angeles can't help but laugh at the familiarity of their offseason strategy.
Dallas Mavericks interested in former Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell
Dallas finished the 2024-25 season with three former Lakers on the roster: Christie, Davis, and Spencer Dinwiddie. If it re-signs Dinwiddie and acquires Russell, that would bring the tally to four, as well as two long-time Los Angeles targets in Irving and Klay Thompson.
The specific nature of the Russell acquisition, however, is certain to stir up conversation among Lakers fans based on past experiences.
Russell put together an excellent 2023-24 regular season, averaging 18.0 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.0 three-point field goals made on .456/.415/.828 shooting. Unfortunately, talks about his future in Los Angeles being limited began during the playoffs, when he shot just 38.4 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Russell posted two 20-point games during the 2024 NBA Playoffs, but shot just 3-of-25 from three-point range between the other three outings during Los Angeles' first-round exit.
The downslide continued when Russell struggled to find an ideal role under new head coach JJ Redick. He was ultimately traded for Dorian Finney-Smith, who seemingly became the first domino to fall in Los Angeles' pursuit of longtime friend and former teammate Luka Doncic.
Russell averaged 12.9 points and 5.6 assists on .367/.297/.826 shooting in 29 appearances after being traded to the Nets.
Dallas will now look to pull a move Los Angeles is admittedly responsible for previously embracing. As it struggled to trade for Irving, it moved to acquire Russell. With Irving now recovering from a torn ACL in Dallas, the Mavericks are attempting to do the same.
One can only hope that Russell turns things around with the Mavericks, but as Dallas goes full Lakers in its attempts to build around Davis, fans can't help but laugh.