The Phoenix Suns officially waived Taylor Griffin today, whose 2010-11 contract was not guaranteed.
The timing of the move, according to a team source, was designed to give Griffin time to pursue his options for the upcoming season. He can either sign with an overseas team, go to the D-league, or perhaps he will call up the Harlem Globetrotters, who also drafted him in 2009.
Griffin was the 48th pick in the 2009 NBA draft and surprised a lot of people by making the Suns roster last year.
Taylor made the team for two simple reasons:
- He was inexpensive and since the Suns were over the luxury tax line, they wanted to spend as little as possible for a 13th guy.
- More importantly, Griffin was an extremely hard working player who also gave full effort on the practice court. He fit with the team's chemistry and set a good example for fellow rookie Earl Clark when it came to putting in extra work on the floor and in the weight room. Taylor was described to me as a guy who would "run through a wall" for you and the team preferred that kind of mentality on the end of their bench to a player who would become disgruntled with the lack of playing time.
Taylor is extremely athletic vertically, but struggled adapting to the lateral quickness of the small forwards at the NBA level and his outside shooting has a long way to go before he can play on the perimeter. He's a guy who naturally should play in the paint, but is just not tall enough to do so at a premier level.
If he so chooses, Taylor can continue to work on his game and perhaps slim down his muscular frame and make it back to the NBA in a few years. He would have to become a knock-down outside shooter, however, and that's going to take a lot of work.
If the chooses to play overseas and gets slotted in a power forward role where he can be most effective right away, it is unlikely that he will develop the perimeter skills he needs.
Of course, if he's just looking for a good time, he should definitely see if the Globetrotters are still interested.
We wish Taylor all the best in his career.
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