Jaylen Hands

Jaylen Hands
Hands at the 2017 McDonald's All-American Game
No. 50 – Pallacanestro Varese
PositionShooting guard / Point guard
LeagueLega Basket Serie A
Personal information
Born (1999-02-12) February 12, 1999 (age 25)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeUCLA (2017–2019)
NBA draft2019: 2nd round, 56th overall pick
Selected by the Los Angeles Clippers
Playing career2019–present
Career history
2019–2020Long Island Nets
2021FMP
2021MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg
2021–2022Telenet Giants Antwerp
2022–2023PAOK Thessaloniki
2023–2024Peristeri
2024Palencia
2024–presentPallacanestro Varese
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference

Jaylen Joseph Hands (born February 12, 1999)[1] is an American professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Varese of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. As a high school senior in 2017, he was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game,[2] and was ranked as a consensus five-star prospect and the No. 3 point guard in the country in the class of 2017 by all major scouting services, including ESPN and 247Sports. Hands earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors in his sophomore year with UCLA in 2019. He was selected in the second round of the 2019 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers with the 56th pick before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets. He played a season in the NBA G League with Brooklyn's affiliate, the Long Island Nets before beginning his European career in 2021.

High school career

[edit]

Hands began his high school career playing with Mater Dei Catholic High School in Chula Vista, California where he was named an All-County player, San Diego Metro League Player of the Year, and won the 2014 CIF championship.[3][4] Following his sophomore season, he transferred to Foothills Christian High School in El Cajon, but this transfer was denied by the San Diego Section. Instead, Hands enrolled at Balboa City, a prep school that operated outside of the Section's jurisdiction, where he was teammates with Deandre Ayton, the future top prospect of the class of 2017. For his senior season, he completed his transfer to Foothills Christian, where he played for coach Brad Leaf, father of UCLA star T. J. Leaf. That year, Hands averaged 29 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.5 assists a game.[5] He also won the slam dunk contest at the Ballislife All-American Game.[6]

Ranked a consensus five-star college recruit,[7] Hands received many offers from teams such as Arizona, Louisville and San Diego State, but eventually committed to UCLA on September 16, 2015.[8][9]

College career

[edit]

As a freshman in 2017–18, Hands and junior Aaron Holiday gave the Bruins two fast guards capable of handling the ball, and they were expected to play alongside each other as well as share point guard duties.[10][11][12][13] However, Hands' play was erratic, and he came off the bench for much of the season.[14] He started the first five games of the season before missing a game after spraining his left foot against Wisconsin. Upon returning, he became the sixth man while sophomore Prince Ali remained in the starting lineup.[15][16] On December 3, 2017, Hands scored a career-high 23 points and added nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and only one turnover in 24 minutes in a 106–73 win over Detroit Mercy.[15] After playing 14 games as a reserve with coach Steve Alford staggering the minutes of his two main ballhandlers, Hands returned to the starting lineup on January 25, 2018, against California, replacing forward GG Goloman.[17][18] He finished with 14 points, six rebounds and one assist in a 70–57 win over the Golden Bears.[18] In the following game, he scored nine points and had a season-high 10 assists with only one turnover in an 89–73 victory over Stanford.[19] Hands missed the regular season finale after spraining his right ankle in practice. He returned for UCLA's Pac-12 tournament opener, but played just 10 minutes and did not start.[20] He ended the season with averages of 9.9 points in 25.2 minutes,[21] with almost as many turnovers (1.8) as assists (2.6).[22] After the season, Hands declared for the 2018 NBA draft and attended the NBA Draft Combine,[23][24] but withdrew from the draft to return to the Bruins.[21]

In 2018–19, Hands assumed the lead point guard role with Holiday having left for the NBA.[21] Hands hoped to become a better leader and improve his assist-to-turnover ratio. He and fellow sophomore Kris Wilkes were the team's top two returning scorers.[22] On November 28, 2019, Hands had a career-high 11 assists in an 80–61 win over Hawaii.[25] In the following game, he had his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 assists in an 82–58 win over Loyola Marymount.[26] He followed up with 12 points and a career-high-tying 11 assists for his second straight double-double in a win against Notre Dame.[27] He became the first Bruins player with 10 or more assists in three consecutive games after achieving it only once in his first 37 career games.[a][26][28] On February 9, 2019, Hands scored a career-high 27 points against Utah, but the Bruins blew a 22-point lead with 12:10 remaining in the game and lost 93–92 on a three-point field goal at the buzzer. Hands conceded that he committed an intentional foul too early with 6.9 seconds left in the game, helping to set up the Utes' game-winning shot.[29][30] On February 23, he scored all of his 27 points in the second half, when he was 7-of-8 on 3-pointers to help UCLA rally from a 19-point deficit in the half and win 90–83 versus Oregon.[31] In the following game against USC, he had 21 points and 10 assists with no turnovers in a 93–88 overtime win over their crosstown rivals. He had sat out the first 2:19 of overtime as the Bruins opted for a stronger defensive lineup, but he returned to make a 30-foot (9.1 m) three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining to extend the Bruins' one-point lead and help secure the victory.[32] His performance against the Trojans earned him his first Pac-12 Player of the Week honors.[33] In UCLA's opening game of the Pac-12 tournament, Hands had 22 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in a 79–72 win over 10th-seeded Stanford.[34] He finished the year as the Pac-12 leader in assists (6.1),[35][36] and was named second-team All-Pac-12.[37] After the season, he announced that he would declare for the NBA draft and hire an agent.[35]

Professional career

[edit]

Long Island Nets (2019–2020)

[edit]

Hands was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round of the 2019 NBA draft with the 56th overall pick. He was acquired by the Brooklyn Nets along with a 2020 first-round pick in exchange for Mfiondu Kabengele, who was taken earlier with the 27th overall pick.[38] Brooklyn used the draft rights player rule to have Hands sign with their G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets.[39][40] On December 11, 2019, Hands had 28 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in a win over the Westchester Knicks.[41] In his rookie season, Hands averaged 11.3 points, 3.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game.[42] On November 19, 2020, Hands' NBA draft rights were traded to the Detroit Pistons in a three-team trade;[43] they renounced his draft rights in July 2021.[44][45]

FMP (2021)

[edit]

On January 1, 2021, Hands signed a two-year contract with Serbian team FMP of the ABA League.[46][47]

Riesen Ludwigsburg (2021)

[edit]

In August 2021, Hands signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA Summer League.[48][49] In September, the Westchester Knicks acquired his G League rights from the Nets for Bryce Brown.[50] On September 22, Hands signed with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg of the Basketball Bundesliga.[51]

Antwerp Giants (2021–2022)

[edit]

On October 11, 2021, Hands signed with Telenet Giants Antwerp of the BNXT League.[52]

PAOK Thessaloniki (2022–2023)

[edit]

On July 4, 2022, Hands signed with PAOK Thessaloniki of the Greek Basket League.[53] In 31 domestic league games, he averaged 13.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 turnovers, playing around 24 minutes per contest.

Peristeri Athens (2023–2024)

[edit]

On June 24, 2023, Hands signed with Peristeri Athens of the Greek Basket League and the FIBA Champions League. On February 14, 2024, he parted ways with the club. He was averaging 12 points, 3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest, but he also missed part of the season due to injuries.

Pallacanestro Varese (2024–present)

[edit]

On July 9, 2024, Hands signed with Pallacanestro Varese of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[54]

Career statistics

[edit]
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

[edit]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 UCLA 31 15 25.2 .405 .374 .738 4.0 2.6 1.0 .2 9.9
2018–19 UCLA 33 33 31.2 .413 .373 .780 3.7 6.1 1.3 .2 14.2
Career 64 48 28.3 .409 .373 .762 3.8 4.4 1.2 .2 12.1

Notes

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  1. ^ UCLA did not regularly record assists until 1973–74.[28]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Jaylen Hands".
  2. ^ Jordan, Jason (February 7, 2017). "UCLA signee Jaylen Hands receives McDonald's All American jersey". usatodayhss.com. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  3. ^ Maffei, John (September 21, 2015). "Hands makes two major decisions". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  4. ^ "Jaylen Hands". Archived from the original on September 7, 2015.
  5. ^ Maffei, John (December 25, 2016). "Another basketball standout at Foothills Christian". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  6. ^ Ugland, Dan (May 7, 2017). "Jaylen Hands' ridiculous 360 windmill clinches BallIsLife All-American dunk contest". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017.
  7. ^ "Jaylen Hands". Verbal Commits. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  8. ^ "Jaylen Hands - Basketball Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN".
  9. ^ Woo, Jeremy (September 16, 2015). "UCLA lands five-star PG Jaylen Hands, continues in-state recruiting success". si.com. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  10. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (October 31, 2017). "UCLA basketball in final stages of preseason preparation with exhibition game". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017.
  11. ^ Roberts, Ben (November 1, 2017). "UK basketball team will have its hands full with five-star freshman foes this season". Lexington Herald-Ledger. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017.
  12. ^ Bolch, Ben (November 9, 2017). "UCLA basketball roster: Sizing up who will be playing for the Bruins". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017.
  13. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (November 7, 2017). "UCLA basketball: 5 major questions for the Bruins". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017.
  14. ^ Bolch, Ben (February 16, 2018). "As season winds down, UCLA fans wonder: Will they stay or will they go?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 17, 2018.
  15. ^ a b Bolch, Ben (December 3, 2017). "Freshman Jaylen Hands has career effort to lead UCLA over Detroit Mercy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017.
  16. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (November 28, 2017). "UCLA basketball shakes off chaotic start to season". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on December 7, 2017.
  17. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Thi (January 25, 2018). "UCLA basketball beats Cal to snap 3-game losing streak". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018.
  18. ^ a b Bolch, Ben (January 26, 2018). "Jaylen Hands' return to the UCLA starting lineup may be just a cameo". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018.
  19. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Thi (January 27, 2018). "UCLA men's basketball makes it look easy in win over Stanford". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018.
  20. ^ Kaufman, Joey (March 8, 2018). "Aaron Holiday leads UCLA past Stanford, into Pac-12 Tournament semifinals". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on March 9, 2018.
  21. ^ a b c Davis, Seth (June 26, 2018). "Summer School: With Hands and Wilkes back in the fold, UCLA is hoping for a happier ending". The Athletic. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  22. ^ a b Bolch, Ben (October 11, 2018). "Return of Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands for sophomore seasons makes UCLA a contender for Pac-12 title". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  23. ^ Associated Press, The (March 29, 2018). "UCLA freshman Jaylen Hands to test NBA draft waters without hiring agent". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  24. ^ O'Connor, Kevin (May 21, 2018). "What We Saw and Heard at the 2018 NBA Draft Combine". The Ringer. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018.
  25. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (November 28, 2019). "Prince Ali's career night helps UCLA bounce back against Hawaii". The Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  26. ^ a b Bolch, Ben (December 2, 2018). "UCLA fires on all cylinders, rout Loyola Marymount 82-58". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  27. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (December 8, 2018). "UCLA stuns Notre Dame on injured Kris Wilkes' last-second 3-pointer". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  28. ^ a b Bolch, Ben (December 12, 2018). "Jaylen Hands' pass-first mentality is working for UCLA, even with the occasional wayward pass". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  29. ^ Bolch, Ben (February 9, 2019). "UCLA squanders 22-point lead, loses at the buzzer to Utah 93-92". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  30. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (February 9, 2019). "UCLA blows 22-point lead as Utah wins on 3-pointer at the buzzer". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  31. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (February 23, 2019). "Jaylen Hands' 3-point barrage leads UCLA men's basketball comeback vs. Oregon". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  32. ^ Bolch, Ben (February 28, 2019). "Jaylen Hands propels UCLA past USC 93-88 in overtime". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  33. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (March 4, 2019). "UCLA's Jaylen Hands named Pac-12 player of the week". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  34. ^ Bolch, Ben (March 13, 2019). "Jaylen Hands helps UCLA hold off Stanford rally in Pac-12 tournament victory". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  35. ^ a b Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (March 27, 2019). "UCLA guard Kris Wilkes declares for NBA draft with agent". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  36. ^ "Jaylen Hands". UCLABruins.com. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  37. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (March 11, 2019). "UCLA's Jaylen Hands, Kris Wilkes named All-Pac-12 second team". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  38. ^ Sapp, Demetris (June 20, 2019). "Brooklyn Nets Select Nicolas Claxton and Jaylen Hands in 2019 NBA Draft". NBA.com. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  39. ^ "Long Island Nets Finalize Training Camp Roster" (Press release). Long Island Nets. October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  40. ^ Friar, Nick (October 1, 2019). "Jaylen Hands reportedly expected to join Long Island Nets". USA Today. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  41. ^ "Jaylen Hands: Dominates Westchester". CBS Sports. December 12, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  42. ^ Milholen, Chris (July 6, 2020). "For Jaylen Hands, next steps beckon ... and he says he's ready wherever they lead". NetsDaily. SBNation. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  43. ^ "Nets acquire Shamet from Clippers in 3-team trade". NBA.com. November 20, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  44. ^ Smith, Keith [@KeithSmithNBA] (July 31, 2021). "Per a source: The Detroit Pistons have extended a qualifying offer to Two-Way player Saben Lee. He's now a restricted free agent. The Pistons have also officially renounced the draft rights to Jaylen Hands" (Tweet). Retrieved August 19, 2021 – via Twitter.
  45. ^ Corp, Sean (June 14, 2021). "Detroit Pistons waive rights to Jaylen Hands". DetroitBadBoys.com. SB-Nation. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  46. ^ Vezonik, Uroš (January 1, 2021). "FMP officially presented Jaylen Hands". Sportando. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  47. ^ "JAYLEN HANDS INKS A 2-YEAR CONTRACT WITH FMP". ABA-Liga.com. January 1, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  48. ^ Dammarell, Evan [@AmNotEvan] (August 2, 2021). "Evan Mobley and Isaac Okoro headline the Las Vegas roster for the Cleveland Cavaliers" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  49. ^ "Cleveland Cavaliers 2021 MGM Resorts NBA Summer League Roster". nba.com. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  50. ^ "Westchester Knicks Complete Trade for Jaylen Hands". Madison Square Garden Sports. September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  51. ^ Yahyabeyoglu, Fersu (September 22, 2021). "Ludwigsburg lands Jaylen Hands". Eurobasket. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  52. ^ Carchia, Emiliano (October 11, 2021). "Jaylen Hands inks with Antwerp Giants". Sportando. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  53. ^ Chorozoglou, Panagiotis. "O Jaylen Hands στον ΠΑΟΚ mateco". PAOK BC. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
  54. ^ "Nuovo Arrivo In Pallacanestro Varese: Ecco Jaylen Hands". pallacanestrovarese.it (in Italian). July 9, 2024. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
[edit]
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