The NBA trade deadline passed on Friday and if his first game in Hawks colours is anything to go by, Jock Landale is going to be a steal in Atlanta.
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Landale was originally traded to Utah as part of the blockbuster Jaren Jackson Jr. deal before being moved to the Hawks for cash considerations.
Atlanta subsequently traded Kristaps Porzingis to Golden State and with Onyeka Okongwu (dental fracture) unavailable, Landale was thrown into the starting line-up right away in his Hawks debut.
Coincidentally it came against the Jazz, who had just traded Landale, and he helped his new team to a thrilling 121-119 win.
It capped off a crazy 24 hours for the Boomers big man, who drove all the way from Memphis (630 kilometres) for shootaround before being given the starting nod — and he made the most of the opportunity.
Landale tied his previous career-high mark of 26 points in the win to go with 11 rebounds, five assists and four blocks while his five 3-pointers, including a clutch one late in the fourth quarter, were a career-best mark.
“I’m just glad to be here. Glad to be here playing some basketball,” Landale said after the game.
“I was actually sitting on a plane getting ready to go to Utah and I get the call saying, ‘Get off the damn plane’. The option was to fly in this morning or drive last night and I thought I’d come here, get a good night’s sleep, see the boys, work out this morning and just kind of get acclimatised.”
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Landale also connected with fellow Australian Dyson Daniels on a few occasions, showing off the chemistry the two have developed playing for the Boomers.
“This is unbelievable,” Atlanta play-by-play commentator Bob Rathbun said, while NBA Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins described it as an “incredible” Hawks debut.
“You know what’s amazing. Jalen (Johnson) is looking for him because he knows he likes playing around the basket… he’s a nice pick-up because you can play him consistently behind Okongwu,” Wilkins added.
“He’s a guy who has drove all the way from Memphis, didn’t know where the locker room was and had a huge night.”
Read on for a full wrap of how Australia’s NBA players were affected by the trade deadline!
Of course, Landale links up with fellow Australian Dyson Daniels in Atlanta and while the Hawks made a series of moves before the deadline, the most consequential for the NBA’s reigning Most Improved Player was the Trae Young trade.
It means Daniels will continue to see an increased role as a primary ball handler for the Hawks, although he will be without two of the team’s better shooting weapons in Vit Krejci and Luke Kennard.
The arrival of CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert and Buddy Hield should help alleviate some of those spacing concerns, however, the fit with Jonathan Kuminga is awkward given Daniels’ struggles as an outside shooter.
But realistically Kuminga isn’t a guarantee to see huge minutes anyway, and was more of a high-upside swing that the Hawks happily took as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trade.
Remember, it is worth considering there wasn’t much of a market for Porzingis given his problems staying healthy this year.
So, it made sense to trade him now for a proven shooter in Hield, even if he is having a down season, and a 23-year-old Kuminga who may show something with a fresh start.
As for Josh Giddey, he is obviously a cornerstone in Chicago’s long-term plans but in the short-term, he is just one of many guards on a roster that doesn’t make a lot of sense.
After Friday’s trade deadline passed, Arturas Karnisovas referred to Giddey as one of three core Bulls moving into the future, along with forwards Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue.
But Karnisovas, the club’s executive vice president of basketball operations, has only made life more complicated for the 23-year-old by stuffing Chicago’s roster with several fledgling guards.
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In totality, the Bulls’ trade business saw them acquire four combo guards — Jaden Ivey, Rob Dillingham, Collin Sexton and Anfernee Simons — as well as Leonard Miller, Nick Richards, Guerschon Yabusele and nine second-round picks.
Sexton is the most reputable name there, though he has bounced around a few teams in recent years now, while Simons, despite his undeniable offensive talents, hasn’t yet settled, and Dillingham is gone from Minnesota in just his second season.
There are a lot of ‘maybe, maybe not’ names, and there’s not a lot of long-term surety with Karnisovas’ moves.
The returns for Nikola Vucevic, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu are modest at best, but the silver lining is that the club finally worked out it wasn’t going to move the needle as the team was previously constructed.
But coach Billy Donovon is going to have a hell of a time trying to navigate and manage a rotation chock-full of guards, while trying to ensure they mesh with Giddey, his best ball-handling floor general.
The Australian will also have to strengthen his on-court connection with the six-foot-nine Jalen Smith after Vucevic, his favourite pick-and-roll and screening pal, was dealt to Boston.
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Meanwhile, Dante Exum was traded to Washington as part of the Anthony Davis deal.
Exum is currently recovering from a right knee injury which saw his 2025-26 campaign come to a premature end, with the Australian guard ruled out for the season before it even tipped off.
There may have been opportunities for minutes at Washington in previous seasons, but the Trae Young and Davis trades signal the Wizards could be looking to compete next year and they are already stacked for young talent in the starting line-up.
Plus, as already mentioned, the focus for Exum has to be on getting healthy first since he has already been ruled out for the season and given he is on an expiring contract, there is every chance he won’t be retained by Washington and instead will need another team to offer him a lifeline next season.
While Exum has proven himself a versatile, high IQ player when on the court, his lengthy list of injuries may make it difficult for the Australian to get another start in the NBA.
There were a host of other Australian players who, while not traded or in a prominent role with their team, were still impacted by the moves at the deadline.
Josh Green was already seeing limited playing time, averaging 15.7 points as a 3-and-D wing in Charlotte, and could see his minutes reduced further with Coby White arriving. Although the Hornets traded Collin Sexton as part of that deal, so it is more likely White will just settle in as a dynamic sixth man off the bench and as LaMelo Ball insurance, which means Green would play a similar role in the rotation.
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Elsewhere, Johnny Furphy had been starting for the undermanned Pacers out of necessity this year but was always going to be bumped back to the bench next season when Indiana gets healthy and with Ivica Zubac now on the way, he definitely won’t be called on as much to play in the frontcourt.
In Cleveland, rookie Tyrese Proctor had seen his minutes significantly reduced recently and he will be up against it to get minutes with the more experienced Dennis Schroeder and Keon Ellis arriving as depth options while James Harden is obviously a straight swap for Darius Garland.
Unfortunately, fellow Australian Luke Travers was squeezed out after the three-way trade between the Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings and the Chicago Bulls that saw Cleveland land Schroeder and Ellis.
Travers may not have to wait long to get a start elsewhere, however, with a number of NBL teams already showing interest in him.
It was a similar experience for Boomers big man Duop Reath, who was waived by the Atlanta Hawks after joining them as part of the Vit Krejci trade.
Reath was always expected to be a cut candidate given he underwent season-ending foot surgery to repair a stress fracture in late January.
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