Oklahoma City: Hoard will end the season with the Thunder

Aurélie SACCHELLI, Media365, published on Saturday April 02, 2022 at 4:04 p.m.

While he previously had a two-way contract with Oklahoma City, the French winger of the Thunder Jaylen Hoard signed a ten-day contract with the Thunder, until the end of the regular season.

Jaylen Hoard will long remember his April 1, 2022. Two days after celebrating his 23rd birthday, the French winger (or strong winger) offered himself a ten-day contract and a huge match against Detroit. On December 30, the native of Le Havre signed a ten-day contract with Oklahoma City and was able to play a match, he who had already played 19 with the Thunder last season. Returning to the G-League then, Hoard was rewarded for his fine performances (10.1 points and 6.1 average rebounds with Oklahoma City Blue) with a new ten-day contract., which will therefore take him until the end of the regular season, the franchise being eliminated from the play-in race. « I really wanted this contract to end the season, and I saw yesterday (Thursday) that it was happening », rejoiced the Frenchman, who benefited from the flu symptoms of Aleksej Pokusevski to be called in reinforcement .

Hoard joins an inner circle

And Friday against Detroit, Jaylen Hoard did more than honor that contract. Holder for the first time in his NBA career (he also played 13 games with Portland in 2019-20, but off the bench), he scored 11 points and above all grabbed 20 rebounds in 40 minutes, which only seven other Thunder players have managed to do in the history of the franchise created in 2008, and not least: Russell Westbrook, Nick Collison, Steven Adams, Serge Ibaka, Enes Kanter, Moses Brown and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. With his compatriots Théo Maledon and Olivier Sarr, Jaylen Hoard has little to hope for this end of the season, which will see the Thunder face Phoenix, Portland, Utah and the two Los Angeles teams, and which will finish between the 13th and 15th place West. But Le Havre has every interest in showing up to land a new (long-term?) contract for next season.