According to InsideHoops, the Clippers waived Mike Taylor today. Taylor’s contract was to become guaranteed after today, but Clippers management decided against retaining him. Taylor was scheduled to make $736,420 this year.
Taylor showed a ton of potential towards the end of the year. Taylor went off for 35 points at Madison Square Garden on March 25th, which was good for one of the highest single game point performances by any rookie last season. Taylor’s rough summer in Vegas, where he struggled with inconsistency and maintaining the proper tempo, probably lost him his job. Mike Taylor may not have been a true point guard, but many Clippers fans were hopeful he could blossom and enjoy a career similar to Bobby Jackson.
It’s quite the turn of events, considering Taylor was a player that management traded a 2009 2nd rounder to acquire. That traded pick eventually became pick 33 of this years draft, who Portland used to select Dante Cunningham.
Taylor became quite the fan favorite in L.A. for his electrifying dunks and speedy play. In the dying months of the season, Taylor was routinely applauded by fans for his consistent effort and hustle.
Taylor’s waiving leaves the Clippers with only three true guards on the roster; Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, and Sebastian Telfair. This move may further intensify the Clippers pursuit of Ramon Sessions.
If this is truly the last we’ll see of Mike Taylor in a Clippers uniform, we might as well let him go out in style.
46 Responses
Say it aint so!! The games in which Mike played in were quite entertaining in last year’s dreadful season. We’ll miss ya Mike
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Actuallty hustled on every play and we waive him that is a Damn shame. I know DJ can’t be happy.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 4:05 pm
I figured Mardy Collins was going to get the axe, not Taylor. Maybe they are doing this to appease Sessions concerns.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Telfair is 2nd sting caliber not Taylor (at this stage needs more time)this scares Sessions away more
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I will still wear my #4 Taylor Jersey with pride. Good Luck Mikey!
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Q.D. Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 5:10 pm
They made Taylor jerseys?
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jgroove Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Yeah, seriously. They made Taylor jerseys? Are there vintage Cherokee Parks ones avail?
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bongstradamus Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 8:24 pm
You can always do a custom one
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 4:25 pm
To bad for Mike Taylor he showed potential. He should get another chance with another team.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Still need to get rid of 1 more person. Madson i guess. I would have kept him, must have been something he did in the off season to piss someone off.
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Q.D. Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Probably by playing like shit in the summer league.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 4:29 pm
He did something alright…HE STUNK. He was awful this summer, running around like his head was on fire and turning the ball over at half court 4 or 5 times every game. I hate to see anybody lose out on their dream, but he played himself right out of a job. He should have concentrated on setting up Blake and left the craziness to someone with nothing to lose.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Taylor’s better than probably a half a dozen end of the bench guards in the league. He’ll make a team for sure. Should be in the dunk contest too, holy urkel.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Shame to see him go, but after his poor Vegas performance I’m not entirely shocked. If only we could axe Ricky Davis instead…..
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 5:23 pm
I am really hoping this means they are going to make some move for a guard. A 2/3 is a big weakness for us. My biggest worry.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 5:27 pm
The Bucks waived Bruce Bowen. Um , How does going for Bruce sound?
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Dunleavy would like Bowen’s defense, better to get him and dump RickD.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 6:47 pm
This is an intriguing move. I thought that Mike Taylor would be a major part of the team moving forward. His running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off style seemed to work quite well off the bench. Even with Telfair, I thought he would still have get decent minutes as a change-of-pace guard, but apparently not. I think this is another in the long list of questionable moves made by the Clips front office.
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Chaderack Reply:
August 1st, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I think it was a good move. If he could not handle playing with summer league scrubs, he has no business in the NBA. Telfair is way better than Taylor, stop feeling sorry for this guy, he sucks!
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Taylor was a minor move when we acquired him… He was a pleasant surprise, but it’s another minor move dropping him… It’s not like the rest of the NBA is waiting in line… Bruce Bowen just got released and he has a lot more value than Taylor, as do many others who have been released.
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Ian Reply:
August 1st, 2009 at 12:57 pm
exactly how i feel about it. Who the hell’s gonna play backup 2 for us? Not Ricky, i hope.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 8:22 pm
I can see Mike Taylor backing up Steve Nash on the Suns.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Best wishes to Mike.
Let’s sign Bowen! He’s 38, but he can still ball!
Dunce needs to drop Ricky D already!!! What the f* is the hold up?!
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bongstradamus Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Theres $2.5M reasons why it hasnt been done, not to mention we’re not very deep at the 3.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Maybe he played like crap during the Summer League on purpose cus he’s gonna be 3rd string.
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Clipper Speakeasy Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 11:23 pm
You really think a former D-Leaguer who was kicked out of college decided to tank his nearly guaranteed $736K salary because Baron and Telfair were ahead of him on the depth chart?
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FireDunleavy .com Reply:
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Was a joke, but I want it to be true.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 10:43 pm
that pick we traded couldve been dejuan blair
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 11:03 pm
So, this seems to put Iverson back in play. Sessions, in all likelihood, is headed to the Knicks. Would it be possible to fill out the roster with Iverson and Bowen on 1 year deals? That would give the 09-10 Clips an interesting blend of youth and experience and make them, on paper, competitive for a playoff spot.
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Clipper Derrick Reply:
August 1st, 2009 at 2:31 am
Can Bruce Bowen guard the 2 spot?
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Mungo Reply:
August 1st, 2009 at 7:19 am
Bruce Bowen can barely guard the 3 spot these days. Try watching a Spurs game from last year, all he’s got left is his rep now.
Still sucks at free throws though.
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Posted on July 31st, 2009 at 11:37 pm
I’m not so sure about your Sessions scenario, Speakeasy. The Knicks have a 7 day exclusive window now to sign Jason Williams. If the Knicks sign White Chocolate, they’re probably not going to also go after Sessions. I read that the Knicks were preparing to make an offer to Sessions, but that was before they got their exclusive on Williams. As far as AI is concerned–please God, don’t let Dunleavy sign him.
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Clipper Speakeasy Reply:
August 1st, 2009 at 1:28 am
I’m operating on the theory that the Knicks need to show Lebron that he is joining a competitive team, rather than just offering a max contract in the largest market. Sessions, a young PG on the rise who is relatively cheap, is exactly what the Knicks need. Sessions, along with retaining Lee and Robinson, seem to be necessary moves for the Knicks in that scenario. White Chocolate is veteran minimum insurance, who would probably enjoy playing in the Knicks’ system.
As for Iverson, I was against it originally, but the roster and free agency options were different then. With Taylor gone, Sessions out of play, and Telfair in the mix, adding Iverson somehow seems less crazy and more probable. Bowen would be ideal, but I’m not sure he would come here of his own free will.
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Clipper Derrick Reply:
August 1st, 2009 at 2:36 am
The Knicks want to have cap room for the next off-season, so you can pretty much close the door on the idea that they can get Sessions, Lee AND Robinson. That’d just be waaaay too expensive.
I still don’t think Sessions is out of play yet … yet.
I’m still against Iverson. You can’t realistically hit a home run the first year with a healthy roster. Iverson wouldn’t impart any “good” lessons to the young ballers, so I think it’s better that they develop on their own under Baron’s guidance. I think Baron will step it up … I hope Baron will step it up this year …
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Posted on August 1st, 2009 at 12:41 am
Sucks for Mike Taylor, but he never impressed me. His game was more of a And 1 style and he should have focused more on his game rather than hazing Blake Griffin. I don’t feel bad for him because he never showed effort to get better. I wonder if he asked Blake to get a towel to wipe his tears when he got waived.
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Posted on August 1st, 2009 at 8:58 am
I’m curious why Dunleavy would drop Taylor, too. I strongly believe that Dunleavy isn’t close to completing his offseason moves. Releasing Taylor is simply bringing Dunleavy one step closer to…………Sessions and Bowen?
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Posted on August 1st, 2009 at 9:05 am
I wonder if there are some character issues with Taylor. Do you guys know anything about possible character issues? I don’t know of any, so I don’t want to start a false rumor. I’m simply asking the question.
Also–how’s Taylor’s defense?
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Posted on August 1st, 2009 at 9:15 am
i think that if the knicks sign iverson than the only team that could afford sessions is the clips
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Posted on August 1st, 2009 at 11:21 am
I liked MT, last year in Vegas he was the stud on the team. We had glimpses of him last year but he did seem to turn the ball over alot. Which got me to thinking, how many guards has Dunleavy coached and how have they progressed under him.
Here’s what I posted on Clipsnation – just wondering what anyone else thinks.
A bit of a look at Clipper guards in the Dunleavy era reveals the Clips have used 35 different guards. Of those 35 players, only 5 players have averaged double figures in scoring, B.D, (14.9 and 7.7) E.J. (16.1 and 2.8), Cassell (17.2, 6.3 his first year and 12.3, 4.7 his second), Mobley ( scoring dropped his first three years, slight uptick in his fourth while his assists dropped every year) and Q. Richardson (17.2 and 2.1), and only BD has averaged over 7 assists a game.
It seems that the Clips do o.k. if they obtain a player like Cassell or Mobley (although both of their production dropped under Dunleavy) or if they get a real talent like they did in E.J.(o.k, how rare is that?). It’s apparent they aren’t up to coaching/teaching the other players they draft (hello dunleavy) or bring in.
It’s also a little telling that E.J.‘s stats are virtually they same as Q’s when they let him go. Seriously, Dunleavy doesn’t have a clue.
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Posted on August 1st, 2009 at 4:08 pm
This is crap
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Posted on August 1st, 2009 at 4:28 pm
LOL @ some of you suggesting we sign Bowen. This guy is in the end of his career and he should just retire. He’s a bum and we have no use for him. As for Mike Taylor, very sad to see him go. He was one of the fastest guys in the NBA and was a total blur when he got out and ran. I will never forget that dunk he did against the Grizzlies. He was really an exciting young player. Hopefully, we see him with another NBA team.
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Posted on August 1st, 2009 at 10:41 pm
In summer league Taylor proved he’s not a PG and probably never will be… His job over the last year was to start thinking and playing like a PG. He failed to do that and as a result, is no longer in the Clipper’s future plans… So much for him becoming the next Rondo… Also, had they kept him another day, his contract would have been guaranteed, costing us flexibility. He can always be brought back if we fail to get anything else done, as Paul Davis was last year.
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Posted on August 2nd, 2009 at 8:52 am
Bowen would make too much sense on the clippers. No way we make a smart move like that. thats something a contender would do.
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Clip Show 714 Reply:
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Here you man. Sometimes we do the opposite of what makes sense.
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Posted on August 2nd, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Goes to show as clippers fans we can never get attached to our players as long as Sterling owns the team and Dunleavy is the coach.Didn’t like this move at all. MT was one of the only bright spots last year. Dunleavy wanted himto be a true PG but he’s not. He is a scoring point guard. Played well off the bench w/ DeAndre Jordan. Good luck MT!!
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Posted on August 3rd, 2009 at 3:27 pm
I’m from Indiana and have become a Clippers fan because of Eric Gordon. Taylor has physical talent but is clueless when it comes to running the show as a point guard. Too many unforced turnovers, too many times failing to run the offense and going off 1×1. He will never be more than a spot player until he develops a higher basketball IQ.
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Posted on August 4th, 2009 at 10:53 am
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