Strasbourg keeps recruiting: former Italian league top scorer arrives at SIG
SIG Strasbourg now has a new offensive weapon. The Alsatian club has officially announced the signing of Jaylen Hands (1.91 m, 27 years old), a guard capable of taking on a significant share of creation and scoring. Drafted into the NBA in 2019 after his time at UCLA, the American already has solid European experience.
His signing comes, however, after an eventful 2025-2026 season. Having played successively for Panionios, Nanjing and then Murcia, Hands never found the consistency that had made him one of the most prolific scorers in Europe during his time at Varese. Strasbourg is therefore betting as much on his talent as on his ability to return to his best level.
𝙅𝙖𝙮𝙡𝙚𝙣 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙎𝙄𝙂𝙢𝙖𝙣 ❗️
The American combo-guard is reinforcing the backcourt, bringing his explosive profile, long-range shooting and ability to create his own shot.
🗞️ : https://t.co/cAeUOp5aBX#gosig #strasbourg pic.twitter.com/fiPjqZnCmP
— SIG Strasbourg (@sigstrasbourg) August 31, 2026
Jaylen Hands, a scorer who shone at Varese
Jaylen Hands’s best reference remains his 2024-2025 season in Italy. Wearing the Varese jersey, the former UCLA player finished as Serie A’s top scorer with 19.3 points on average, along with 4.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists. He topped 20 points 17 times and hit a season-high of 42 against Scafati, making nine 3-pointers on thirteen attempts. This production confirmed the offensive qualities he had already shown earlier at PAOK Thessaloniki, Peristeri and Palencia.
With PAOK in 2022-2023, Hands notably averaged nearly 14 points in the Greek league and shot better than 40% from beyond the arc in the Basketball Champions League.
A far less steady 2025-2026 season for Jaylen Hands
The following season was much more complicated. Jaylen Hands started it at Panionios, where his output remained inconsistent despite a few important performances. In EuroCup, he averaged 11.5 points, 4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in eight games, but with only 31.7% shooting and 26.2% from 3-point range. His time in the Greek league was also difficult in terms of shooting accuracy, with 8.7 points on average and 23.1% from long range in nine games.
Hands then joined Nanjing in China during the season. His offensive output rose back up to 15.3 points and 4.6 assists in an average of 21 minutes over 22 games, before returning to Spain in the spring.
Murcia signed him in April to finish out the season. In a roster that already had many backcourt options, his role was reduced: 6 points on average in less than 14 minutes over eleven Liga Endesa games.
Nationalities:
Strasbourg hopes to find the 2024-2025 version of Hands
As it did in 2025 with the return of Marcus Keene, SIG is trying to revive a player whose offensive potential no longer needs proving. Able to operate with or without the ball, Jaylen Hands can punish from beyond the arc, attack the rim and create his own shot.
His career has already taken him to Serbia, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Italy and China. Selected 56th in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers before his rights were traded to the Brooklyn Nets, he had previously spent two seasons at UCLA.
Strasbourg will still have to wait before he definitively joins Jānis Gailītis’s squad. The club states that the steps needed to obtain his visa are still ongoing.
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