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After helping to lead the Kansas Jayhawks to the national title game, the Portland Trailblazers selected point guard Tyshawn Taylor No. 41 overall for the Brooklyn Nets. Brooklyn obtained his draft rights for cash considerations. The Nets now have a chance to see what they have in Taylor in NBA Summer League play.
"We liked him. On our board he was pretty high,'' their GM Billy King said afterward. "Avery (Johnson) and I've been talking about trying to get a young point guard that we can groom down the road and with his pedigree and the big games he's played, we felt he'd be good. We had him ranked high, and once we saw him starting to slide, we started maneuvering to get there.''
Taylor will play under less scrutiny during summer league play with a contract getting finalized on Friday. Will he have longevity in the league? Jim Clibanoff of Clib Hoops, a respected scouting service to which many NBA teams advocate said, "Not by any means is it a given that he’ll have a long shelf life in the NBA," Clibanoff said. "If he has a long NBA career, it wouldn’t surprise me, and if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t surprise me."
An offensive minded play maker in college, Taylor will have to keep his aggressive approach in check to be consistent at the next level. Defense will be his calling card to getting extensive minutes early in his career. He should learn a lot by playing behind an elite point guard in Deron Williams. Bill Self coached Williams in his final season at Illinois, Williams freshmen year.
Taylor started and logged 29 minutes before fouling out in the Nets 88-92 loss to the Orlando Magic. He filled up the stat sheet, finishing with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals. He shot 5 for 13 from the field and committed four turnovers. Brooklyn is back in action tomorrow, facing off against the Boston Celtics at 4:00pm CT.