By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
On the heels of the strong finish to the 2021-22 NBA Regular Season, Jaylen Hoard officially moved his talents to Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv on Sunday.
Back from six years in the USA, the newcomer signed a training-camp deal, the team announced. The contract is not fully guaranteed. Instead includes a team option for the rest of the season at the end of the training camp and before the launch of the next editions of the 7DAYS EuroCup and Israel’s domestic competitions.
Hoard, 23, made his way to 42 NBA games between the Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder over the last three seasons. The Blazers were down several regulars on the injury list late in the 2021-22 Regular Season and the French forward jumping in generated a productive stretch of four games with 22.0 points and 14.5 rebounds per contest.
The Le Havre-born player came out of the renowned institute INSEP located in Paris. Landing in the United States in 2016, he played at the high school level and joined Wake Forest for the 2018-19 NCAA season. The next stop was the NBA combined with additional professional experience in the G League, despite missing the cut of the 2019 NBA draft.
Potentially securing a spot on the roster of the team based in Tel Aviv would retrospectively throw him on the list of summer signings alongside Tomer Ginat, Chris Horton, Xavier Munford, and Travis Warech. Returning players are Lotan Amsalem, Gil Benny, J’Covan Brown, Adam Raz, Bar Timor, JP Tokoto, James Young, and Idan Zalmanson.
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