Jock Landale describes ‘fun’ experience starting for the Hawks after being traded

It has been a busy 48 hours for Jack Landale. He was traded from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Utah Jazz as part of the Jaren Jackson Jr. deal. The next day, while he’s on the plane about to take off to Utah, he finds out that he’s likely going to get traded again.

He then has to get off the plane and wait for the word on where he’s going. He finds out it’s the Atlanta Hawks, and they offered to send him a plane to get him to the team the same day of their game, ironically against the Jazz. Landale opted against that to get to the team as soon as possible, and he packed his truck up to drive five and a half hours to Atlanta.

To make it even more special for him, he was inserted into the starting lineup in his first game, and he may have had the best debut that anyone could ask for.

Landale finished the game with 26 points and 11 rebounds, and hit a big three-pointer to give the Hawks the lead late in the game. The Hawks were able to pull off a win, and for Landale, he was learning on the fly as the game went on.

“Anytime you have a team that puts trust in you on short notice, it says volumes about them,” Landale said. “It was a game that was probably a little bit structureless for us, and you start adding new pieces over the next couple of weeks. You’re just adjusting on the fly, so they’re calling plays I’ve never heard of in my life. And I’m just being told where to go on the fly. They’ve given me a playbook I haven’t looked at yet.

“It’s just going to be playing basketball, which is fun, reacting and playing off a bunch of intelligent hoopers. It’s a freeing place to be to just let the game come to you and figure it out on the fly. I had a lot of fun in game one. I would love for it to be like this every night.”

Landale did everything that the Hawks wanted out of their center play. He started the game with three offensive rebounds and made his presence felt in the paint. He knocked down five of his eight three-pointers. He made plays for others, which led to his five assists.

It may have taken a lot to get to that moment, but it looks like he was ready for whatever was being thrown at him. Going forward, there would be no surprise that Landale will be a key piece in the frontcourt alongside Onyeka Okongwu when he returns.

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