After spending the 2024/25 season on a two-way contract with the Rockets, Australian forward Jack McVeigh is heading back to his home country, having signed a two-year contract with the Cairns Taipans, according to an announcement from the team. The second year of the deal is a mutual option.
McVeigh, 29, competed for several seasons in Australia’s National Basketball League before making the leap to the NBA last summer. He appeared in just nine games for Houston as a rookie in 2024/25, but was a featured player for the Rockets’ G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, making 34 total appearances for the club.
McVeigh averaged 16.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 30.7 minutes per game for the Vipers, posting a shooting line of .440/.370/.875.
The 6’8″ forward remained stateside in July and suited up for Atlanta’s Summer League squad, posting solid averages of 14.0 PPG and 2.5 RPG on .588/.455/1.000 shooting across four outings (22.8 MPG). Reporting over the weekend indicated that he was hoping to parlay that performance into another NBA opportunity, but it appears no appealing offers materialized.
McVeigh’s new contract is worth $2MM over two seasons, making him the highest-paid player in Taipans history, per Olgun Uluc of ESPN (Twitter links). As Uluc outlines, McVeigh will be one of the four highest earners in the NBL heading into the 2025/26 season, joining Bryce Cotton, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., and Xavier Cooks as players who are making at least $1MM annually.