Former Nets guard D'Angelo Russell signs with CBA's Shanghai Sharks

The Brooklyn Nets have had plenty of players come through the franchise over the course of its history and some of them have left an imprint that many fans remember to this day. For some Nets fans, guard D'Angelo Russell made them bigger fans of the Brooklyn franchise and now, he is continuing his p

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What is the story about?

The Brooklyn Nets have had plenty of players come through the franchise over the course of its history and some of them have left an imprint that many fans remember to this day. For some Nets fans, guard D'Angelo Russell made them bigger fans of the Brooklyn franchise and now, he is continuing his professional basketball outside of the NBA this season.

According to the Chinese Basketball Association earlier this week, Russell signed with the Shanghai Sharks which is where he will presumably spend the 2026-27 campaign unless an NBA opportunity comes knocking. Russell was last with the Memphis Grizzlies, but once the team cut him, it seems that he chose to sign with the Sharks instead of pursuing another opportunity to play with an NBA team.

Russell,

30, is coming off a 2025-26 season in which he averaged 10.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 40.5% from the field and 29.5% from behind the three-point line. Russell spent last season with the Dallas Mavericks where he had the chance to play meaningful minutes alongside forward Cooper Flagg as Kyrie Irving was rehabbing from a knee injury.

However, Russell's tenure with the Mavericks did not work out the way that he expected as he was eventually traded to the Washington Wizards in the deal that also sent forward Anthony Davis to D.C. After the season ended, the Wizards traded Russell to the Grizzlies and as Memphis is looking to rebuild around forward Cameron Boozer and other young players, the veteran appeared to not fit in to those fans.

Russell had arguably the best stretch of his career during his initial two seasons with the Nets where he earned his first and only All-Star appearance and was a huge part of the team's ascension into an interesting team. Russell came back to the Nets during the 2024-25 season as the team acquired him from the Los Angeles Lakers so some of the older Nets fans got to see him come back to the team before he moves on with the rest of his career.