The Rockets will waive center Jock Landale before his $8MM salary for the 2025/26 season becomes guaranteed, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Charania adds that Landale will sign with his “preferred destination” after clearing waivers, while Kelly Iko of The Athletic says (via Twitter) a number of teams have expressed interest in him.
Landale was signed by Houston in 2023 to a four-year, $32MM contract that included just one fully guaranteed season. However, the Rockets – who were operating well below the luxury tax line, hung onto him for the second year of the deal in 2024/25, even though he played a limited role for the team behind Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams in the frontcourt.
The 29-year-old averaged 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game across 42 outings (three starts) this past season.
With Sengun and Adams returning and Clint Capela joining the frontcourt mix, there was no place in the rotation going forward for Landale, and his $8MM annual salary is no longer palatable for the Rockets to carry with the roster getting more expensive. His release had been expected, even after he and the team reached an agreement over the weekend to push his salary guarantee date back to July 7.
Like all free agents, going to the Lakers
They just added Ayton, so it’s not clear that he would be added too. Outside of LA being the closest physically to his native Australia, it really doesn’t matter that much when you’re talking about a full day flight.
@ phenom….Melbourne and Canberra are nothing like L.A.
All the free agents lol ..they got a former number 1 pick bust who’s been ran out of 2 different cities..and laravia who’s not that great .. nobody but trash players wanna go to the lakers
He could steal some minutes in Philly…I’d be ok with that at this stage
He’ll improve someone’s bench
Apparently Whitmore may be the next to go to get Houston under the apron even after waiving Landale. They’ll probably want a future first rounder. No one has more future draft picks than the Nets do, so that could be a possibility. Also, it could keep alive the possibility of the Nets having two Cams after all.
Warriors !!!!!!!!
With what money Al ?
I’ve been saying that for a couple of months now.
Pacers and Celtics do really need bigs. Lakers could use him as a back-up as well. Denver could get him if they are confident Valanciunas will leave the NBA.
At Otogar….Boston have a good track record with guys like this. Nobody wanted Kornet, balled out and got paid. Nobody wanted Queta. He will now get his chance. Hauser was a g league guy, developed nicely and got paid. Pritchard wanted out. Turns out Boston new what was best and boy oh boy did he ball out when his number was called. Davison was on a two way for years, now on the roster. Loads of guys are getting some burn next season due to Tatum and the payroll. Jock would be no different. International landale is the big version of Patty Mills for Australia, absolutely kills it. Go to Boston and we’ll bring that potential out and he’ll get paid somewhere. I also want another Aussie in a celts uniform next to baynes in my collection lols. Barnes is another great example of playing his best in Boston.
I’m gonna bet the warriors for this dude
The salary cap matters. He’s only 29 so he’s not going to do an end of career ring chasing minimum contract.
Got Brad Stevens team friendly in favour of longer deal written all over it. If International Landale ever turns up in the NBA he’d be a rotation piece for sure.
The Warriors make more sense. It would be like he was coming home.
This guy would be a nice fit on the Warriors, but they can’t afford an 8 million dollar center.
I’m not sure who has that kind of room available, but this guy is a decent player and should easily get that.
The Warriors have an $8.7 million Trade Exception. So, he wouldn’t bust the the cap. He also played for St. Mary’s. He’d be coming home.
Seems to me Pacers may be a good fit if they can work out something like a two-year + third year mutual option. With Myles Turner and his salary coming off the books, Indiana is still near the luxury tax but could probably work out something with average annual value in the $10-$12 million range for Landale. The only question becomes his fit in a team that like to play very uptempo and also thrives with post-and-pop bigs.