Wandering again, can Russell find his chance?

In the NBA, a league where the strong prey on the weak, any butterfly effect may affect the value of a player. In one night, you may become a bargaining chip from the core of the team or become a abandoned child in the market.

According to this standard, Russell is undoubtedly a player worthy of attention this year. As a defender who has been selected as an All-Star, Russell has particularly struggled in recent years. From a career perspective, the 2025 offseason seems to have reached a critical turning point for him.

This potential rookie who once entered the NBA as a second-tier pick. After playing for the Lakers, Nets, Warriors, Timberwolves and Nets, he will face the next issue again this season. Compared to the question of where to go next, what is more important is how much more he can be worth now!

Time returned to the 2014-15 season, Russell showed his power in the NCAA field, averaging 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.6 steals, and handed out a three-point shooting percentage of up to 41.1%. As the core of the offensive team, Russell was once the most optimistic star guard in the United States that year. Relying on such outstanding performance, Russell was finally won by the Lakers in the second pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

However, after joining the Lakers, Russell failed to meet expectations. He chose offensively on the court, his personal game attitude, and even the conflict between the locker room and Nick Young. After many problems, Russell was once labeled with a lot of negative labels. In the end, he was abandoned by the Lakers just two seasons and was later traded to the Nets.

Judging from the career trend, this seems to be a setback for Russell, but it has become Russell's turning point. In the 2018-19 season of playing for the Nets, Russell ushered in a career peak, leading the Nets to the playoffs with an average of 21.1 points and 7 assists per game, leading the Nets to the playoffs, and were selected as the All-Star.

It was this summer that Russell successfully signed a four-year maximum salary contract of 117 million yuan. Although he left the Nets to fight against the Warriors, for Russell at that time, he was indeed one of the few star guards in the league who were old enough and had the team-leading results.

But even with the All-Star endorsement, Russell's subsequent career direction is still unclear. He was traded to the Timberwolves after only 33 games with the Warriors, and partnered with his good brother Towns. Although he still made highlights in his personal data during this period, his role positioning is becoming increasingly blurred from the team's record and personal influence, and it is basically difficult to stay in the team for a long time.

As a defender who is very good at executing offenses in mid-range and pick-and-roll, although it seems excellent, in the context of the modern NBA's more focused on scoring efficiency and defense, Russell's defensive loopholes and finishing ability have not been improved. He was replaced by the coach many times in the game at critical moments, and it is difficult to become the core candidate to carry the team. Finally, he chose to return to the Lakers in 2023.

After joining the Lakers for the second time, this journey seems to be a microcosm of his career. In the regular season, Russell averaged 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage was stable at 40%, which was enough to show the value of an outside shooter. The Lakers also returned to the playoffs with strong strength. However, in the Western Conference Finals, Russell's offensive performance dropped sharply, and the Lakers were finally eliminated by sweeping. Russell averaged only 6.3 points per game in the entire series and shot only 32%, making him one of the Lakers' final eliminated war criminals.

By the next season, the same plot was staged again. Russell's regular season performance was average, averaging 18 points and 6.3 assists per game, with highlights and troughs. However, after entering the playoffs, Russell was disastrous again and failed to help the Lakers go further.

Time comes to the summer of 2024, and Russell made a bold decision to choose to execute the 18.7 million player option to stay in the Lakers. Although he performed poorly, Russell himself knew that if he wanted to win the next big contract for himself, he needed a chance to wash away the stain, and under the leadership of the new coach Redick, he had the opportunity to prove himself again.

Although he was a rookie coach, in the media discussion at the time, Redick was regarded as a loyal executor of modern tactics. His coaching philosophy emphasized offensive space and projection threats, which was exactly what Russell valued. At the beginning of the season, Russell did perform well at one point, with highlights in both scoring and shooting percentage per game, but as the season deepened, the familiar nightmare was staged again. He began to be targeted by his opponents, and he was constantly named in the pick-and-roll, often lost positions in the conversion defense, and the defensive loopholes were completely amplified.

In addition, Russell's own player mentality began to have problems, and his offensive advantage, which he was best at, began to fluctuate. In the end, Redick had no choice but to delegate him to a substitute. In the Lakers, the traffic team, Russell, who performed poorly, has once again become the target of doubt by the media and fans. In the end, it directly promoted the transaction between the Lakers and the Nets, and Russell returned to this team that was under reconstruction and had no pressure to play.

Such a wandering journey was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Russell's career, and it also almost completely dissipated the halo of the All-Star guard on him. We couldn't help but start thinking about a question:

homeless Russell, how much bargaining chip is there for him now?

Simply put, although the player's fame is not as good as before, Russell still has many advantages. As a point guard, Russell has the ability to hold the ball and off the ball at the same time. Although the outside shooting is unstable, his career three-point shooting percentage is still close to 40%, and he can also meet the requirements of opening up offensive space.

In addition, Russell has the ability to pass the ball and control the field, and is still at the starting guard level.. Especially in the offensive system of the half-court positional battle, he can still organize the offense stably, and serve as the team's second ball holder, or even the first ball holder.

Of course, behind these advantages, there are still shortcomings that he is difficult to repair. His defensive performance is still questioned. Whether it is facing the ball holder one-on-one or the team's defensive rotation, he often becomes an offensive breakthrough target for opponents. What is even more worrying is that his performance at critical moments is fluctuating and lacks the stability to be trusted.

Although he can still find his own offensive rhythm in games with slower offense, under the current faster-paced style of play, Russell's ability to adapt is obviously insufficient and he is very likely to fall into a trough. What follows is just the loss of offensive feel, and even personal emotions and offensive decisions are easily affected.

Therefore, if Russell is urgently needed to be positioned as the core of the team, this is obviously not ideal. At this stage, he is more like a qualified starter, or the sixth man in the second team. Such role transformation may be the only way for him to reshape his career trajectory.

As for the next new owner, according to Sports Illustrated, the Bucks are currently the most likely team to sign Russell. The reason behind this is not difficult to understand. Lillard is likely to miss the opening season. The team needs a replacement point guard who can control the ball stably and act as a ball-holding offense. Russell's game experience and outside shooting are completely possible to get a brand new opportunity in the Bucks.

Referring to the predictions of Sports Illustrated author Eric, Russell is likely to sign the Bucks with a mini middle class, and since the Bucks have exceeded the luxury tax threshold, this mini middle class contract can only offer an annual salary of about 5.5 million.

In addition, young teams such as the Magic, Spurs, and Raptors may also be interested in Russell, a ball holder. They may not necessarily expect Russell to become the long-term core of the future, but as the transition point guard at this stage, he still has certain value as a veteran who assists young players.

It's just that for these teams, this signing is not easy. Although they can open a larger full middle class, whether they will give this opportunity to Russell today is perhaps a question mark. No matter what the end, Russell's next contract is likely to be a short-term, low-income contract. He needs some time to re-prove himself in order to get more opportunities.

Looking back at Russell's career trend, from the second-place potential on draft night to the current league homeless man, this process is still quite tortuous. He has proved his All-Star skills and has lost his direction. As a high-ranking player, he is not without talent. Most of the time, he just lacks the opportunity to evolve stably.

And if Russell is willing to transform into the team's sixth man role, he may be able to achieve his greatest value. His organization and scoring ability often plays more value when facing the opponent's substitutes, and can also reduce the issues he is focused on on the defensive end.

But from a less optimistic perspective, such role changes often symbolize the decline in his player value. For Russell today, a maximum salary is no longer his realistic goal, and is more often just a symbol of honor in the past.

The only question is whether Russell himself is ready to accept such a change? Is he willing to transform from a former star point guard to a character puzzle? Perhaps, this is Russell's last chance to reshape his value.