The Phoenix Suns added a third minimum contract player on Saturday night, acquiring Australian power forward Jock Landale from the Atlanta Hawks. Landale was only a Hawk for a few days, having been acquired alongside Dejounte Murray in a trade from San Antonio.
Chris Kirschner, who covers the Hawks for The Athletic, broke Phoenix’s end of the deal shortly after Charania broke the news.
John Hollinger of The Athletic predicted that the exact amount of money would be close to the minimum amount that can be used in a trade, which is $110,000.
Landale is the first Australian center for the Suns since Aron Baynes played one season in 2019-20, but his international impact extends well beyond that.
After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft out of Saint Mary’s College, the 6-foot-11, 255-pound power forward signed with KK Partizan in Belgrade, Serbia, which competes in the ABA League, one of the top European leagues. He continued his European career with a year at Euroleague powerhouse BC Zalgiris in Kaunas, Lithuania, which had just won the Lithuanian national championship.
