Express News: Person of interest: Jermaine Taylor

http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/2009/06/person-of-inter-3.html#more

By Jeff McDonald

We continue our look at draft prospects the Spurs have auditioned with a glance at Central Florida's Jermaine Taylor.

As we have noted before, one of the Spurs' priorities for this offseason is to get younger and more athletic on the wing -- particularly at small forward, but also at shooting guard. Taylor, a 22-year-old, 6-foot-4 scorer, would help there.

Taylor was a breakout star at the Portsmouth pre-draft camp in April, and worked out for the Spurs in May. Possessing a heaping helping of athleticism, a precocious slashing ability and a decent-enough jump shot, Taylor is a scorer's scorer. The MVP of Conference USA last season, Taylor averaged better than 26 points as a senior at UCF, the third-best scoring average in the nation.

Taylor can be a defensive liability, which certainly doesn't help his stock with the Spurs. And he will have to work to develop NBA 3-point range.

Still, Taylor has had an impressive set of workouts over the past several weeks, and there is talk he could jump into the bottom of the first round. If that's the case, the Spurs would have to trade up to get him, if they want him.