D’Angelo Russell has said he’d like to extend his second stint in Brooklyn, a team with whom he has spent 152 games with during his career. He’s on an expiring $18.7MM contract and spoke again about his impending free agency with the New York Post’s Brian Lewis.
“I don’t think it’s in my control, to be honest,” Russell said. “I’ve been on the team before where everybody was free agents, too. So they’ve got the leverage, they’ve got the cards. If they decide to bring me back, cool. If not, we’ll figure it out.”
Since being traded to the Nets ahead of this year’s deadline, Russell is averaging 13.3 points and 5.7 assists. Brooklyn saw the point guard blossom into an All-Star in his age-22 season in 2018/19, then signed-and-traded him to Golden State during the 2019 offseason as part of the team’s Kevin Durant acquisition.
“Hope? Yeah. [But] I just want to be in the NBA,” Russell said when asked if he hopes to remain with the Nets. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a free agent. I look back on it, I’ve never been. For me, it’s a weird feeling, but see how it goes. I signed an extension with the Lakers, two years — one-plus-one, player option. I just never hit [free agency]. So I’m excited to see.”
We have more on the Nets:
- Like Russell, Cam Thomas is also set to be a free agent this summer, though he’ll be restricted rather than unrestricted. “It’s a business, but at the end of the day,” Thomas said, per HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter video link). “I would love to be back and get that straightened out to keep playing in front of the fans and keep building the relationships I’ve built here because I was drafted here.”
- Thomas is averaging 24.0 points and 3.8 assists this season while shooting 34.9% on 7.8 three-point attempts per game. However, he was limited to just 25 games this season before being shut down due to his latest hamstring injury. Head coach Jordi Fernandez discussed Thomas’s summer and what the plan is for him moving forward, per Scotto (Twitter link). “Cam’s been great for the group,” Fernandez said. “He’s worked every single day. He’s built relationships. We all know his superpower of being a very good scorer. The way we played through him, I thought the team was playing at a high level. We’ll go through the summer together. We have a plan in place. The plan is going to be a team that wins consistently, and we’re going to get there together.“
- Killian Hayes rejoined the Nets’ G League affiliate in Long Island after not getting a second 10-day from Brooklyn earlier this month (though that could still be an option down the line). As Scott Mitchell of NetsDaily observes, Hayes had a career game on Friday, scoring a professional career-high 38 points along with eight threes. Even though he’s playing for Brooklyn’s affiliate, the veteran guard is eligible to sign with any NBA team.
Nets with a win over Hawks today. Seems like they don’t want Cooper. VJ or Maluach is a nice pick for Nets.
It’s a lottery . The worst team hasn’t won it in awhile
Top three best odds ….. its arithmetic.
I can’t believe how high some ppl have Maluach. I don’t see it.
Lots of guys in the draft like that. I’m not seeing this most stacked draft stuff either. Only difference I can see is this draft is front loaded with homegrown talent over international. Maybe that’s what all the media attention is about? Knueppel no.9 or 10. McNeeley, a lottery pick in some moch drafts….pfffft, please. Maluach needs another year in college but worth a chance later in the first to bring on slowly.
It makes perfect sense for them to draft Maluach. The Nets probably aren’t contending for another few seasons. Big men take longer to develop than other positions. So, they suck next year. Maluach gets to learn the speed of the NBA and work on the fundamentals. The Nets get a shot at drafting another stud. Building piece by piece.
There’s zero chance the Nets went all in on the rebuild to draft a multi yr project C with very limited upside.. not the way the game is played today and especially not when there are multiple 7 footers that will be available later on this draft.
Why would you go all in on rebuild if you weren’t willing to take on projects? They are obviously OK with projects. A lot of people see him with a high upside. Talent usually goes down later in the draft. It doesn’t increase.
Maluach is best center prospect in years. He’s twice the player Lively will be. Look up where he went. You can’t teach size. Learn the game. Maluach easily going top 7. Nets are fools to pass on him at 5-6. Unlike other 19 yr olds. He can give mins next yr. Has upside to be a dominant Defensive force. And has offensive skills. That you will need to develop.
I think people have to realize that Maluach came to basketball rather late, 4 or 5 years ago. He probably didn’t see much hoops growing up. So, he has a lot of learning to do.
um, okay.
What part are you confused about?
The only thing that’s confusing is ppl thinking that Maluach has shown any sort of elite talent. He’s basically done nothing to get this sort of attention.. 8 ppg and 6 rpg. He’s got size and that cannot be taught or developed but there are a bunch of other interesting 7 footers in D1. Bottom line is that he’s a long term project with a lot of risk and teams picking that high are looking for more certainly.
I agree with whoever said all the talk about this being a super deep draft does not seem to be holding up. I think there will be some very good players that emerge but overall it looks a little disappointing.
Scouts aren’t looking at Maluach’s Duke stats. They are looking at his elite athleticism and mobility. They know his skills are raw. He hasn’t played very long, but has come a long way. The Nets aren’t going to be contending the next few seasons. So, they have time to develop him.