D'Angelo Russell and Maxwell Lewis are available to make their Brooklyn Nets season debuts on Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors. The Nets acquired Russell and Lewis from the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, along with three second-round picks, for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton.

A Russell Brooklyn homecoming has been a point of speculation dating back to last year's deadline, with the Lakers shopping him across the league. The former No. 2 pick played the best basketball of his career after the Lakers traded him to the Nets in 2017.

Russell 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 squad to the Eastern Conference's sixth seed.

However, the Nets sent him to the Golden State Warriors in a sign-and-trade for Kevin Durant during the following offseason. Kyrie Irving then replaced him as the team's lead guard.

D'Angelo Russell's Nets homecoming comes with questions

Brooklyn Nets guard D'Angelo Russell (1) during the second half at Amway Center.
Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Following Sunday's trade, Russell is another out-of-place veteran on the tanking Nets. While the 28-year-old should be highly motivated to perform during the second half of a contract season, his playing well would be counterproductive to Brooklyn's draft goals. Despite this, the team reportedly has no intention of buying Russell out, although they could flip him in a trade before the Feb. 6 deadline.

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Russell averaged 16.6 points and 5.9 assists per game on 45/40/82 shooting splits over the last three seasons with the Lakers.

The Nets ruled out Cam Thomas for Wednesday's Raptors matchup due to left hamstring injury management. Thomas returned Sunday vs. the Orlando Magic following a month-long absence. He posted 25 points, six rebounds and five assists on 6-of-18 shooting from the field and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line during a 102-101 loss.

Ziaire Williams and Trendon Watford will also remain sidelined at Toronto. Williams has been out since Dec. 1 with a left knee sprain, while Watford has missed Brooklyn's last six games with a left hamstring strain.

The Raptors are in the tank race for Cooper Flagg alongside the Nets this season. They enter Wednesday's matchup on a 10-game losing streak that has them five games worse than Brooklyn in the standings. Toronto lost to the Boston Celtics by 54 points on Tuesday at TD Garden, the largest margin of defeat in any game this season.

Meanwhile, the Nets enter Wednesday's matchup on two days' rest with a new lead guard, Russell, who should be highly motivated following Sunday's trade.