Report: Nets' D'Angelo Russell hopes to come back in free-agency

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Brooklyn Nets guard D'Angelo Russell is one of seven players on the Nets that will be hitting free-agency this summer and for Russell, this offseason will be something new for him in his career. Russell is no stranger to playing for different teams, but this will be his first foray into unrestricted free-agency and he has an idea of where he wants to end up.

"I think just what the future holds with this group [is why I want to be back]. Obviously, what (head coach) Jordi [Fernandez] and (general manager) Sean [Marks] are creating, I’m familiar with it. Being somewhere familiar is something I’m definitely prioritizing," Russell said in an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints' Erik Slater. Russell has made it clear multiple times this season that he approves of what the Nets are building and that he wants to be a part of it.

"A lot of teams are rebuilding, but to be here and see this team rebuilding with the pieces that they have, I think the league will be on notice. They were on notice this year," Russell continued. "This group had a lot of good wins before I got here, and then when I got here, we beat a lot of good teams as well." To Russell's point, Brooklyn was an overachieving team in the beginning of the season before Marks and the front office prioritized the rebuild over wins and losses.

Russell, 29, came to the team towards the end of December in a midseason trade this season from the Los Angeles Lakers that also awarded Brooklyn with Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. Russell has been solid for the Nets in his second stint with the franchise as he's averaging 12.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game while shooting 36.7% from the field and 29.7% from three-point land.

When it comes to Russell, time will tell if Brooklyn will bring him back depending on what his market looks like and whether the Nets decide to use their cap space to re-sign players like Russell or maybe pursue more expensive players in free-agency. Either way, Russell has made it clear since coming back to the Nets that he wants to remain with the franchise to lead it out of the rebuild, just like he did years ago.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Report: Nets' D'Angelo Russell hopes to come back in free-agency

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