Jaylen Tairique Adams (born May 4, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, earning co-Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year honors as a senior in 2018. In 2022, Adams won an NBL championship with the Sydney Kings, while being named league MVP as well. He won the BAL championship in 2025 with Al Ahli Tripoli.
High school and college career
Adams played high school basketball for Mount St. Joseph where he was a three-time MIAA A Conference champion. He committed to play in college for St. Bonaventure, averaging 17.9 points, 5.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore and was named a first-team All-Atlantic 10 player.
In his junior season, Adams finished second in the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring (20.6 points per game), first in assists (6.5 per game) and second in steals (2.1 per game). He was named to the First Team All-Atlantic 10 for the second straight year.
Adams missed the first six games of his senior season.
Professional career
Atlanta Hawks (2018–2019)
After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, Adams was signed by the
Atlanta Hawks to a
two-way contract. Under the terms of the deal he will split time between the Hawks and their NBA G League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks.
Adams made his NBA debut on October 17, 2018, recording 1 rebound and 1 assist in 4 minutes of action in a blowout 127–106 loss to the New York Knicks.
He scored 23 points in his G League debut in a win over the Grand Rapids Drive.
On February 20, 2019, the
Atlanta Hawks announced they had re-signed Adams to a multi-year contract.
On July 13, 2019, Adams was waived by the Hawks.
Wisconsin Herd (2019–2020)
On August 20, 2019, Adams signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the
Milwaukee Bucks.
He was cut in training camp and assigned to the Bucks' G League affiliate, the
Wisconsin Herd.
Adams scored a season-high 39 points including 6 three-pointers in a 122–115 win over the Grand Rapids Drive.
On March 4, 2020, Adams dished out a career-high 14 assists to go along with his 19 points in a 106–108 loss to the
Canton Charge.
He averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game for the Herd.
Portland Trail Blazers (2020)
After the G League season, Adams was signed by the Portland Trail Blazers during the COVID-19 NBA restart to replace veteran forward
Trevor Ariza, who opted out of returning to the NBA in Orlando due to child custody reasons.
Adams missed several games with a lower back injury.
Milwaukee Bucks (2020–2021)
On November 24, 2020, the
Milwaukee Bucks announced that they had signed Adams to
two-way contract.
On March 4, 2021, Adams was reported to have been waived by the Bucks after he appeared in seven games.
Sydney Kings (2021–2022)
On August 22, 2021, Adams signed with the
Sydney Kings for the 2021–22 NBL season.
He was named league MVP
and helped lead the Kings to the NBL championship.
Crvena zvezda (2022)
On July 29, 2022, Adams signed with Crvena zvezda of the
ABA League.
He parted ways with the team on November 3, 2022.
Qingdao Eagles (2022–2023)
In December 2022, Adams joined the
Qingdao Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played nine games for Qingdao between December 18 and January 9.
Sydney Kings and Liaoning Flying Leopards (2023–2025)
On July 12, 2023, Adams signed with the Sydney Kings for the 2023–24 NBL season, returning to the franchise for a second stint.
On January 14, 2024, he scored 39 points in 27 minutes in a 105–76 win over the New Zealand Breakers.
In March 2024, Adams had a five-game stint with Liaoning Flying Leopards of the CBA.
On July 1, 2024, Adams re-signed with the Kings for the 2024–25 NBL season.
Al Ahli Tripoli (2025)
In May 2025, Adams joined Libyan club Al Ahli Tripoli, making his debut in the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
He helped Tripoli win their first BAL championship, which they won on June 14, 2025, after defeating Petro de Luanda in the final.
He was also selected to the
All-BAL Team, as one of the two guards alongside teammate Jean Jacques Boissy.
Brisbane Bullets (2025–present)
On July 13, 2025, Adams signed with the
Brisbane Bullets for the 2025–26 NBL season.
Career statistics
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta
|
34 ||
1 ||
12.6 ||
.345 ||
.338 ||
.778 ||
1.8 ||
1.9 ||
.4 ||
.1 ||
3.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee
| 7 || 0 || 2.6 || .125 || .000 || – || .4 || .3 || .0 || .0 || .3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 41 || 1 || 10.9 || .331 || .329 || .778 || 1.5 || 1.6 || .3 || .1 || 2.7
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2020
| style="text-align:left;"| Portland
| 3 || 0 || 7.0 || .333 || .000 || .000 || 1.0 || .7 || .3 || .0 || 2.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 3 || 0 || 7.0 || .333 || .000 || .000 || 1.0 || .7 || .3 || .0 || 2.0
NBL
|-
| align="left" | 2021–22
| align="left" |
Sydney Kings
| 21 || 21 || 31.7 || .430 || .401 || .815 || 5.1 || 6.1 || 1.2 || .3 ||
20.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 21 || 21 || 31.7 || .430 || .401 || .815 || 5.1 || 6.1 || 1.2 || .3 || 20.1
College
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2014–15
| style="text-align:left;"| St. Bonaventure
| 22 || 22 || 32.5 || .386 || .324 || .783 || 2.5 || 4.5 || 1.1 || .0 || 10.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2015–16
| style="text-align:left;"| St. Bonaventure
|
30 ||
30 ||
37.5 ||
.445 ||
.438 ||
.874 ||
3.7 || 5.0 || 1.3 ||
.3 || 17.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2016–17
| style="text-align:left;"| St. Bonaventure
| 30 || 29 || 37.4 || .419 || .356 || .821 ||
3.7 ||
6.5 ||
2.1 || .2 ||
20.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18
| style="text-align:left;"| St. Bonaventure
| 28 || 27 || 37.0 || .437 || .436 || .851 || 3.4 || 5.2 || 1.5 ||
.3 || 19.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 110 || 108 || 36.3 || .427 || .394 || .838 || 3.4 || 5.4 || 1.5 || .2 || 17.4
Personal life
Adams' father, Darryl, played for the Maryland Terrapins football team.
His mother, Yalonda, played basketball at Wesley College in
Delaware.
Adams' younger brother, Brendan, played basketball for the UConn Huskies and George Washington Revolutionaries.
External links
