Five years removed from his first Brooklyn Nets tenure, D’Angelo Russell is back in the back and white. The Los Angeles Lakers traded the former No. 2 pick to Brooklyn for the second time in his career on Sunday. Much has changed since Russell, now a 10-year veteran, was last with the Nets.

“It’s just like getting traded any time before that. You’ve got to adjust,” Russell said on Wednesday. “So it’s been an adjustment for me, learning the players, learning the coaching staff, learning Brooklyn’s new ways. A lot’s changed since I’ve been here. So just trying to adjust and jump right in with these guys.”

“It’s a good feeling, honestly, to go back somewhere you’re comfortable, somewhere you kind of know the ins and outs a little bit. See some familiar faces. It kind of makes the process a little easier to adjust to. So, I’m just grateful for that.”

Russell played the best basketball of his career after the Lakers traded him to the Nets for Brook Lopez and a late first-round pick in 2017.

D’Angelo Russell opens up on Nets departure, return

The point guard averaged 19.0 points and 6.3 assists per game on 43/36/77 shooting splits over two seasons with Brooklyn. He earned an All-Star nod in 2018-19 while leading the rebuilding Nets to the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed.

However, the Nets traded Russell in for star power the following offseason. They shipped him to the Golden State Warriors for Kevin Durant and brought in Kyrie Irving to replace him as their lead guard.

Russell later intimated that the trade didn’t sit well with him.

“Maybe if [Nets GM] Sean Marks was in a jersey, then there’d be something different. But he’s not,” Russell told the New York Post’s Brian Lewis before a 2021 matchup with Brooklyn when asked if facing his former team added motivation.

Despite this, Russell told reporters on Wednesday that there were no hard feelings following his Nets departure.

“Honestly, as soon as I left, I understood the business of it because I was going somewhere that laid out an opportunity as well. So there was no spite, no hard feelings there. Nothing to really get over,” he said.

Russell’s long-awaited Brooklyn homecoming comes under peculiar circumstances. The Nets seemingly committed to a hard tank when they dealt Dennis Schroder to the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 15, the opening day of trade season. However, Russell’s presence adds another competent lead guard who should raise the team’s floor offensively.

The 28-year-old averaged 16.6 points and 5.9 assists per game on 45/40/82 shooting splits over the last three seasons with the Lakers. He should be highly motivated to perform during the second half of this season while on an expiring contract.

Despite this, the Nets reportedly have no intention of buying Russell out. They could, however, flip him in a trade before the Feb. 6 deadline.

In the meantime, Russell should play a feature role as a lead guard alongside Ben Simmons and Cam Thomas. And for a rebuilding Nets squad with nine players age 24 or younger, he feels his leadership could be an asset.

“I think my last few years have been me focusing on how I can be the best me and lead guys,” Russell said when asked what he’ll bring during his second Nets stint. “I just think that’s my niche, being able to give a group what they need. I just feel like I recognize what a group may need and try to bridge the gap in any way I can. If that’s vocally, if that’s by my play, if that’s leading, gathering the guys when we’re not on the basketball [court], whatever it may be. Just trying to lead guys in the sense that I’m a guy you can follow if you need that guidance.”