Deshon Taylor joins the Taipans

Flying into Far North Queensland after competing with Hapoel Haifa in Israel, the 188cm American joins the Taipans to fill in for Pedro Bradshaw.

Returning to Australia for his second stint in the NBL, the point guard will reunite with Adam Forde after working with the 2023 NBL Coach of the Year during his time in Sydney.

Stepping onto the court at Frenso State for his sophomore season, Taylor spent his first year as a sixth man – leading his conference for free throw percentage whilst on his way to the All-Mountain West Third Team.

After being elevated to the starting lineup for the following year, the Bulldog led his team in points and assists and continued his high accuracy from the free throw line. Hitting 200 free throws across 32 games to break the program record, Taylor went on to be named in the All-Mountain West First and All-Defence Teams.

Ranking in the Top 10 in nine of the 13 major stats categories in his conference during his senior year, Taylor finished his college career ranked seventh all-time leading scorer at Frenso State with 1,482 points – averaging 15.9 points across 93 games.

After spending the 2019 NBA Summer League with the Philadelphia 76ers, the guard made his way to Australia – initially joining the Adelaide 36ers, before making his way to Sydney to become an Injury Replacement at the Kings.

On a team that won over 70% of their regular season games and go on to compete in the Grand Final, Taylor once more led his teammates at the free-throw line – only missing six of his shots across the season.

After spending time in New Zealand, Finland, Hungary and Turkey, the American is now making his way back to Australia – with the hope to step onto the court on Saturday night.

Don’t miss the Kenfrost Home Cairns Taipans returning home for the Queensland derby, when they’ll take on the Brisbane Bullets at 7:00pm on Saturday 2 November – grab your tickets HERE.