Houston Rockets agree to 4-year, $80 million deal with Dillon Brooks

ByTim MacMahon ESPN logo

Sunday, July 2, 2023

HOUSTON, Texas -- Free agent wing Dillon Brooks has agreed on a four-year, $80 million contract with the Houston Rockets, his agent, Mike George of One Legacy Sports, told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday.

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The deal will be descending in annual salary, sources told Wojnarowski.

The Rockets also agreed to a four-year, $32 million deal with free agent center Jock Landale, sources told Wojnarowski. Only the first season of the deal is guaranteed.

With these pair of signings, along with the blockbuster addition of point guard Fred VanVleet, the Rockets are aiming to take a step forward next season under new head coach Ime Udoka.

Brooks, 27, had played for the Grizzlies for his entire six-year career after arriving in Memphis as a second-round pick. He grew into a key starter for a team that made the playoffs the past three seasons, earning a reputation as one of the NBA's premier wing defenders -- as evidenced by his second-team All-Defensive selection last season.

However, the Grizzlies opted against attempting to re-sign Brooks in free agency due to his often-antagonistic antics and poor shot selection. That decision was made soon after the second-seeded Grizzlies were eliminated in the first round by the Los Angeles Lakers, a series in which Brooks made headlines by derisively calling LeBron James "old." Brooks shot only 31.2% from the floor in the series and was fined $25,000 by the NBA for not fulfilling his media obligations after Memphis' last three losses.

Brooks' role in the Grizzlies' offense had been a point of contention for a few years. He averaged a career-best 18.4 points per game in 2021-22 but had a subpar 47.5% effective field goal percentage.

Memphis' coaching staff asked Brooks to accept a lesser role in the offense last season, which he did, averaging 14.3 points on 13.6 field goal attempts per game, both his lowest figures since becoming a full-time starter.

"I don't think I lost anything on the offensive end," Brooks said during his exit interview the day after the Grizzlies were eliminated. "I was just there to 3-and-D, shoot and play defense. I got way more to my game than that."

Meanwhile, Landale lands his first big NBA contract after breaking out last season with the Phoenix Suns. He spent four years at Saint Mary's and a couple of years playing overseas before making his NBA debut with the San Antonio Spurs in 2021.

Landale, 27, averaged 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 14.2 minutes per game and appeared in seven of the Suns' postseason games.

Landale proved to be a reliable backup center, strong rebounder and good finisher when he saw the court in Phoenix. The Suns also won the minutes he was on the court -- in nearly 1,000 total minutes this season, Phoenix was plus-7.9 points per 100 possessions when Landale played.