The Thunder have signed forward Jaylen Hoard to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, according to NBA.com’s official transactions log. Our JD Shaw (Twitter link) first reported the deal.
Hoard, who played his college ball at Wake Forest, went undrafted in 2019 and spent his rookie season with Portland on a two-way contract. In his second year as a pro in 2020/21, he played for the Thunder’s G League affiliate, then signed a two-way deal with the NBA club in April. He rejoined the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s NBAGL team, this season.
Over the course of his three-year career, Hoard has averaged 4.8 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 32 NBA games (13.2 MPG), with 12.3 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 53 G League contests (24.6 MPG).
Six Thunder players are currently in the health and safety protocols and Hoard is the team’s fourth hardship addition, joining Olivier Sarr, Scotty Hopson, and Rob Edwards.
Additionally, a report on Monday indicated that Oklahoma City had reached a 10-day deal with Zavier Simpson, but that signing has yet to be finalized.
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Hoard is a good kid. Here’s hoping he gets some traction.