Memphis is bringing in D'Angelo Russell in a six-team trade that adds a former All-Star guard, a future second-round pick and a future second-round pick swap to its haul. The move also sends Isaiah Stewart and AJ Johnson to Memphis, with Santi Aldama going to the Dallas Mavericks to complete the AJ Johnson portion of the deal.
Russell is 30 and comes in after spending time with five teams over an 11-year career. In 26 games with the Dallas Mavericks last season, he averaged 10.2 points and four assists, a line that shows both the appeal and the limits of the move for Memphis as it tries to balance immediate help with long-term asset stockpiling.
The timing matters because Memphis is not making the trade from a position of need at the top of the roster so much as from a roster already crowded at point guard. Ty Jerome and Scotty Pippen Jr. have drawn strong reviews from the coaching staff, while Zach Kleiman said after the draft that he wanted to see the young group of point guards get more of an opportunity. That group also includes Javon Small, Jahmai Mashack and Walter Clayton Jr., which makes Russell’s arrival a clear test of how the club wants to distribute minutes and responsibility.
Memphis has been building toward this kind of flexibility for a while. It already picked up a protected 2030 first-round pick and two future second-round picks in the earlier Santi Aldama for AJ Johnson deal, and now it adds more future value while also keeping its $28.9 million traded player exception. That exception was created in the Feb. 3 move that sent Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz, and it gives Memphis another way to absorb salary without using the exception itself.
The roster math is tightening, not loosening. After accounting for Isaiah Stewart, AJ Johnson and Russell, Memphis has 17 players on standard contracts, with Cam Boozer, Karim Lopez and Richie Saunders still unsigned. NBA teams can carry up to 18 standard contracts and three two-way deals ahead of the 2026-27 season, so the Grizzlies still have room, but not much of it. That leaves the next step less about whether Russell is arriving and more about which young guard group Memphis is willing to trust once the minutes start getting divided.
