NBA Draft 2016: Ranking The Top 10 Point Guards

Isaiah Taylor is likely a fringe-second round prospect and doesn’t appear much higher than 15th or 16th on most prospect lists but I absolutely love this guy.

First things first, Taylor is fast. Mind-numbingly fast. Like prime-Ty Lawson fast. He can’t be touched in transition and can change direction without losing any speed in the process. Couple that with his ability to finish at the rim, be it with floaters or finger rolls, and you have a terrifying offensive option. His handles are fairly impeccable as well so it doesn’t take a huge stretch of the imagination to see his potential in a drive-and-kick based system (*cough*Miami Heat*cough*).

I’m not sure how much farther his jump shot can improve but based on his two years at Texas, the room is certainly there for him to become a competent shooter in his own right. If Taylor does become proficient as a shooter, he’s arguably the biggest steal of this entire class.

That being said, the reason I say he needs to work on his jump shot is because he’s still incredibly streaky. Taylor would definitely rather take a contact layup than an open elbow jumper and attacks defenses in a manner that reflects this shortcoming.

While he does tend to knock these shots down at a better than expected rate, it’s not something that will exactly lend itself to professional success. I’m also not convinced that he will ever be a three-point threat. His range seemed suspect in college and stepping back yet again in the pros is only going to make this worse.

Nonetheless, I really want Taylor to fall to the right team. He has some incredible skills that went largely unnoticed for whatever reason. If a team lets him work out the kinks in his game while also cutting him loose to run the court when he does play, Taylor is going to end up being an absolute animal. Fingers crossed.

Next: No. 5