To Indiana: Who is Jeff Taylor?
Quietly the most effective perimeter player in Charlotte last season.
Not MKG Not Kemba Walker. Not Gerald Henderson. Not Ramon Sessions. Jeff Taylor.
Sorry, I should explain my claim. Why I consider Jeff Taylor the best of that group ...
It was because Jeff Taylor was a strong defensive player who was a solid catch and shoot role player on offense. Makes very few mistakes. Rarely takes away from his team unlike he is more acclaimed teammates. Which means, even though his positive contributions were quite small, his negative contributions were tiny and his net impact was pretty healthy (unlike many of his teammates).
I didn't think much of Kemba Walker's season because I thought he gave up more on defense than he created on offense + because, while he is a solid scorer, he isn't much of a passer / floor general. Net negative. Has potential to be a top flight change of pace scoring PG off the bench but he is not starting material.
MKG was good on defense but awful on offense. Probably the worst jump-shooting perimeter player who was playing big minutes last season. His bad offense took away from his team than his good defense added. Net negative.
Gerald Henderson started the season off quite badly but picked up as the year went along and finished well. Gave inconsistent effort on defense and struggled on offense until late season surge. Even then, his lack of skill-level on offense (for a SG) made life more difficult for his teammates. Offensively, more of a SF than a SG but defensively needs to play SG.
Then there was Ben Gordon who was just going through the motions out there. Fought with coaches. Worst season in awhile.
Ramon Sessions was Jeff Taylor's stiffest competition. He was a very good backup PG but still isn't really starting material on a good team because he needs so much of the ball in his hands + has a lousy shot when off the ball. I think Taylor can start on a contender. So I gave him the nod.