Dallas Mavericks X-Factor For The 2025-26 Season - D'Angelo Russell
Oct 3, 2025
The Dallas Mavericks enter the 2025–26 season with high expectations, and yet a critical question needs answering. How do you remain competitive in the ultra-tough Western Conference when your All-Star point guard is recovering from a torn ACL? They are hoping to have found the answer by signing D’Angelo Russell, a veteran with something to prove.
Signing Russell to a two-year, $13 million deal using the taxpayer mid-level exception was an offseason move out of necessity but one that could turn out to be masterful. With Kyrie Irving targeting a midseason return from the ACL injury he suffered last March, Dallas needed a capable playmaker who could handle significant minutes without impacting the salary cap. Enter Russell.
The former second overall pick averaged 12.6 points and 5.1 assists in 58 games last season, split between the LA Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets, his second tour of duty with both teams. While his stat line across the board housed the lowest numbers of his career, including his shooting percentages, playing in Dallas, Russell does not need to be “the man.” With Anthony Davis, Cooper Flagg, and Klay Thompson, Russell can play a complementary role, working the pick-and-roll, initiating the transition game, and executing the drive-and-kick. However, there are some nights in which the 29-year-old, ten-year veteran can certainly hold his own, getting hot from downtown.
What makes Russell an X-factor isn’t just his on-court contributions but rather his veteran experience. After acquiring Davis in last season’s blockbuster trade for Luka Dončić, combined with Irving being sidelined, the Mavs can’t afford to waste half or more of this season treading water. If Russell can help keep Dallas competitive until the start of the calendar year, when Irving is expected to return, it could make the difference between securing home-court advantage as a top-four seed and fighting through the play-in tournament.
Should Russell embrace his role, Flagg live up to high expectations, Davis remain healthy and lead the team, and Irving return before the All-Star break, the Mavericks could be title contenders by the end of the season.
