When the Dallas Mavericks signed D'Angelo Russell in the opening hours of free agency, many fans had their gripes with the move as it signaled that Russell was going to be the Mavericks' primary playmaker with Kyrie Irving still sidelined. While players like Cooper Flagg and Ryan Nembhard have begun to make a name for themselves, Russell has slowly fallen into a pit of despair with the Mavericks after only playing one game.
For Russell, he would only clock 15 minutes in Dallas' season opener against the San Antonio Spurs. For a team that was desperately needing creation off the bench, Jason Kidd would shy away from picking Russell.