The free agency of Jeffery Taylor will not be restricted by the Charlotte Hornets.
As they did with former lottery pick and teammate Bismack Biyombo, the Hornets have declined to tender Taylor a qualifying offer, according to a report from Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports. Taylor had a $1.18-million qualifying offer that would have allowed the Hornets to retain his rights in restricted free agency, but he'll now hit the market unrestricted.
Born in Sweden, Taylor was selected 31st overall out of Vanderbilt in the 2012 draft. His rookie season was encouraging for his future as a 3-and-D wing, but his sophomore year was cut short due to a torn Achilles tendon.
Taylor was then suspended 24 games to start 2014-15 after pleading guilty to domestic violence in October, and never really worked his way into head coach Steve Clifford's rotation.
The 26-year-old has averaged 6.1 points and two rebounds in 19.4 minutes over 132 career games, shooting 40.9 percent from the floor and 31.9 percent on threes. Taylor is short on offensive skill, but if he can show teams he can still defend at a high level, he may catch on somewhere for 2015-16.
