Brooklyn Nets: 15 best draft picks of all-time (updated through 2018-19)
By Phil Watson
Brian Taylor. 3. player. 147. . PG. New York Nets (2nd round, 1972 ABA Draft)
The New York Nets had already forfeited their first-round pick in the 1972 ABA Draft for signing undergraduate Jim Chones the previous spring.
But they landed a player with even more impact when they chose Princeton guard Brian Taylor in the second round.
Despite missing a month of action with dislocated fingers, Taylor was the ABA Rookie of the Year in 1972-73, averaging 15.3 points in 32.3 minutes per game in the 63 games he played, while shooting 51.5 percent from the floor (despite going just 4-for-25 from deep).
Taylor went on to earn All-Star nods in 1975 and 1976, was an All-Defensive pick in each of those seasons and made All-ABA Second Team in 1974-75.
He led the ABA with 2.8 steals per game in 1974-75 and by 1975-76 had become improved enough as an outside shooter to lead the ABA in 3-point shooting at 42.1 percent.
Taylor was the starter at the point for both ABA title teams for New York, in 1974 and 1976, but never played with the Nets after the merger with the NBA in 1976. In September of that year, Taylor was sent to the Kansas City Kings along with Jim Eakins and 1977 and 1978 first-round picks, with All-Star Tiny Archibald coming back to Long Island.
Taylor played a lone season with the Kings and about half the 1977-78 season with the Denver Nuggets before jumping the team in a dispute over a bonus payment. Taylor would miss more than a year of action before signing with the San Diego Clippers late in the 1978-79 season.
He retired in 1982 after injuring his Achilles.
In four seasons with the Nets, Taylor averaged 14.0 points, 3.7 assists and 2.4 steals in 32.8 minutes per game. His steals per game average is third-best in franchise history.