How Landale went from brink of quitting to $20m deal

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Jock Landale was done with the NBA, writes Michael Randall from CODE Sports.

Ready to quit the big show.

Houston Rockets had cut ties at the end of the 2024-25 season and the Boomers’ big man was at a crossroads, prepared to “hang up the boots in the NBA” and take his considerable talents overseas.

Years of his reality falling short of team promises had taken their toll and, despite a reputation as a competitive beast and positive locker room presence, the options had dwindled. The opportunities in Europe, where his professional career began at Euro League giants Partizan Belgrade in Serbia and then Zalgiris in Lithuania, had become hard to resist.

A year on — and fresh off inking a life-changing US$14 million contract with Atlanta — Landale’s glad those in his inner sanctum, including wife India, agents Sammy Wloszczowski and Mike Lelchitski and Andrew Bogut’s Rogue Bogues podcast collaborator Mike Procopio, convinced him to have one last shot at the big time.

“It did take some convincing from people in my circle,” Landale admitted to CODE Sports.

Landale resisted the lure of big money overseas offers to sign a veteran-minimum US$2.3 million deal in Memphis.

“I was ready to hang up the boots in the NBA and go overseas, so I felt like Memphis was my last chance to have a real dip at making myself stick in the NBA," he said.

It’s safe to say, objective achieved — and then some.

The 30-year-old went about producing the best season of his five-year NBA career, before a mid-season trade to Atlanta landed him alongside Boomers’ teammate Dyson Daniels.

In 68 games (45 with the Grizzlies, 23 at the Hawks), Landale produced career-highs across the board with 10.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and emerged as a genuine stretch five, draining over 38 per cent of his three-point attempts.

The Hawks knew what they had in Landale. So, as soon as the NBA finals finished, discussions between Wloszczowski and Atlanta president of basketball operations Onsi Saleh began, culminating in a one-year deal, sealed the morning before free agency officially opened.

For the full story on CODE Sports Basketball, click here.