D'Angelo Russell signs with Shanghai Sharks of Chinese Basketball Association

Former NBA All-Star and 2015 No. 2 NBA Draft pick D'Angelo Russell has agreed to sign with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association, the league announced Wednesday on Instagram.Russell, 30, was released by the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday after they acquired him in a July trade. He becomes the latest NBA veteran to choose to play in China rather than try to sign on at the end of an NBA roster, and he joins a Shanghai Sharks team that won the CBA title last season for the first time since Yao Ming played for the franchise in the early 2000s.Per CBA rules, teams can roster only three foreign players at a time, and the Sharks' current roster includes former NBA player Brandon Goodwin. Ex-NBA players Hassan Whiteside and Kenny Lofton, along with former Arizona star Kyle Fogg, played for Shanghai last season. Whiteside, however, tested positive for a banned substance in May and faces a possible multiyear ban.Russell, who made the All-Star team in 2019 as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, has bounced around the NBA since the end of his second stint with the Los Angeles Lakers midway through the 2024-25 season. After returning to Brooklyn for a half-season following a December 2024 trade, Russell signed with the Dallas Mavericks as a free agent in the summer of 2025.The Mavericks hoped Russell would soak up some minutes at point guard while Kyrie Irving recovered from a torn ACL, but Russell clashed with then-coach Jason Kidd and fell out of the rotation. Russell was traded to the Washington Wizards as part of the Anthony Davis deal in February 2026 but didn't play a single game with Washington. Memphis acquired him as part of a multi-team sign-and-trade involving several free agents, then released him to resolve a roster crunch.While the CBA's quality of play is considered several steps below top European leagues, prominent former NBAers such as Stephon Marbury, Gilbert Arenas, Tracy McGrady, Jeremy Lin, Michael Beasley and JR Smith have played in the league. Some, including 2009 Milwaukee Bucks first-round pick Brandon Jennings, have briefly returned to the NBA after spending time in the CBA.This article originally appeared in The Athletic.