Landale on 'sharpening his tools' and rookie jet Kingston Flemings

• Jock Landale has recovered from the ankle injury that cost him the 2026 playoffs
• He re-signed with Atlanta for one year and USD $14 million, his richest season yet
• Landale says No. 8 pick Kingston Flemings plays with rare maturity for a rookie

Australian Boomers big man Jock Landale has recovered from the ankle injury that ended his 2025-26 season, revealing he had spent the off-season sharpening “the tools in the toolbox” for Quinn Snyder’s Atlanta Hawks.

Landale, who turns 31 on October 25, re-signed with the Hawks for USD $14M – the biggest single-season contract of his career after establishing himself as Memphis' starting centre when Zach Edey went down with injury at the start of the 2025-26 season; he averaged career highs across the board.

Still, he was traded to the Utah Jazz at the deadline in a salary-driven move, then waived without playing. Within days, Dyson Daniels' Hawks signed him for their playoff push – famously driving overnight to get Georgia.

For the Hawks, Landale averaged 9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 39.1% from three in 23 regular-season games before an ankle injury ended his season ahead of the playoffs.

“My ankle injury took a little while to get over,” Landale said.

“Initially, when I went back to Australia, there was a lot of time spent on that.

“Once that was cleaned up, going on 31 in a couple of weeks, I decided it was time for me to probably trim up a little bit. I worked on my body in that capacity.

“From there, I just continued to hone the shot, hone that left hand – every piece of my offensive game that I feel like I use within reason. I’m not out there doing junk work and trying to be something I’m not.

“The boring stuff, I just worked on that a bunch.

“I thought I did a good job of getting better in that space.”

The 2.11m centre enters his sixth season in the NBA, starting with San Antonio before stints at Phoenix, Houston (two seasons) and Memphis.

He now has a guaranteed AUD $20M deal to play alongside Boomers teammate Daniels.

“It meant a lot,” Landale said.

“There were a lot of conversations with Quinn and (GM) Onsi (Saleh) towards the end of the season about what the team needs and how I can continue to help out.

“That was more about, when I was in the moment playing, ‘How could I help out?’ But I really felt as though, from day one when I got here back in February, I was involved, and I was valued.

“They really cherished the skillset I brought, the level of maturity and all that kind of stuff.

“When I first got here, a lot of the conversation was: ‘We want men. We want men who are coming in to work and who understand what it is to win’.

“I think the guys they brought in have done a really good job of that. Then, to take it a step further this offseason, they brought in some obvious winning pieces who play like men as well.

“They’re tough, they’re physical – all of that.

“It meant the world to me that they really followed through with the early showings of appreciation they gave me. I’m super excited to be back.”

Landale admitted it was an unfamiliar scenario, but he had made the most of it.

“It’s huge,” he declared.

“I haven’t done it too many times in my career. I’m a bit of a prototypical journeyman who has bounced around every year of his career thus far. The one time I didn’t was in Houston, where I wasn’t really playing anyway.

“To come back to a team where I know there are going to be minutes where I’m contributing, whether we’re winning or losing, and being able to figure that out – I took it upon myself to get here as early as possible.

“I think I’ve been around since July 5 or something. A lot of guys have been around and in the gym, and I feel like we’ve made some really good headway in building relationships and rapport with each other, and just learning what it is to play Atlanta’s basketball.

“We’ve obviously got a long way to go, given that it’s still September, but I think we’ve made some really good inroads into our own identity.

“Being that I’ve probably played with Kingston (Flemings) a little bit this year, I feel like I’ve done a good job of figuring him out. Vice versa, he’s helped me out a lot and started to figure me out.

“That stuff goes a long way. You see a lot of good teams early in the season get a leg up on everyone else just by clocking some early wins. I feel as though a lot of that comes from the rapport they’ve already built throughout the years.

“For us, given that we’re still a relatively new group, just having that level of investment from everyone – we came back early and got after it – I feel like that helps.”

Flemings was Atlanta’s first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft at eight, a 19-year-old 1.88m guard out of Houston.

“Early on, when we were here together, he was, as all rookies are really playing super fast,” Landale revealed.

“Playing fast is probably one of his superpowers.

“As time went on, he maintained that speed, but the decision-making felt like it slowed down.

“He’s a guy who plays ahead of his time – or beyond his years, I should say.

“He seems like he’s got a real maturity and poise to him that’s pretty rare for rookies coming in. He’s going to get a lot of opportunity to man the offence and figure it out, and I think he can continue to grow there.

“A lot of rookies come in thinking they don’t have a voice in a locker room and they can’t be a leader as such. But I think the kid does a really good job of speaking up and trying to control the offence a little bit, getting us in the right places.

“It’s as simple as just calling a play sometimes.

“I think there’s a super bright future ahead for him. I enjoy being out there with him and getting him open with a few screens. We’re going to see what else happens, but he’s a super talented player, and he’s got a bright future.”

As for the ankle injury that ended his season and his opportunity to help the Hawks in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, Landale said: “Mentally, it was tough.

“Anytime you’re watching your team have a chance and then go down the way we did in the end, you feel as though you could be out there helping out.

“I tried having touch points with the team, being involved in meetings and all that stuff, trying to figure out the puzzle piece that no one managed to figure out.

“Going into the offseason, it didn’t change too much. I know what I’m good at. I know where my deficiencies lie, and I approach most off seasons the exact same way.

“Every time I enter an offseason, it’s about how I can sharpen the tools in the toolbox towards what I do already. That’s how I feel.”

The Hawks play their first NBA pre-season game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 10am (AEDT). They open their season against the Orlando Magic on Thursday, October 22 at 10am (AEDT).