Jeff Taylor was a great four-year player at Vanderbilt and that allowed him to get drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats with the first pick of the second round in the 2012 NBA draft. After playing three seasons in Charlotte and not being extended a qualifying offer, Taylor had reportedly committed to a deal with European team Maccabi Tel Aviv earlier this summer. It is now being reported that Taylor has backed out of his agreement with Tel Aviv and will look to get a new contract with an NBA team, according to David Pick of USBasket.com.
The contract Taylor signed with Tel Aviv was reportedly for two years and he was to get paid $600,000 this upcoming season. Prior to signing the contract Taylor reportedly had spoken to Tel Aviv assistant coach Avi Even about how he was prepared to make the jump overseas and pursue stardom in the Euroleague. Taylor has now reportedly thought twice about it and believes he can still get an NBA team to give him a contract.
Whether Taylor will be able to get an NBA contract remains to be seen, but it doesn't seem all that likely. Taylor was a top 100 recruit out of high school and was tremendous in college, but he couldn't put it all together in the NBA.
After a productive first year with the Bobcats where he scored 6.1 points per game on 43 percent shooting in 19.6 minutes per game, his playing time and percentages went way down. Taylor played in a combined 55 games over the past two seasons in the NBA (also had stints in the D-League), shot below 40 percent in both seasons and saw his three point percentage drop as well. Taylor's career PER is 8.9, which is well below average, and that would indicate that he may not be an NBA-level player.
The money may have been a motivation for Taylor to back out of his contract with Tel Aviv, as he has made more than $600,000 each of the past two seasons just on his rookie contract. If a team were to sign him to a contract, even for the league minimum, which it likely would be, he would earn more than $1 million. Taylor is by no means guaranteed to get a contract with an NBA team, but he is taking the risk of going for more money and leaving behind a sure thing that could have turned him into a superstar in Europe.
