On Dec. 20, Jeff Taylor ruptured his Achilles tendon and quickly had surgery to repair the damage. He's expected to take part in training camp in a couple of weeks, but how is he doing physically?

He bulked up his upper-body strength during the summer but has shed weight since.

“At one point in the summer I weighed about 230 pounds. That’s not what I wanted to be during the season – you don’t need that weight wearing on (your) knees,” Taylor said. “Now I’m about 215 – still strong, but way more ready to jump.”

Despite his progress, Taylor likely won't be 100 percent until at least January.

"Taylor says he’s still an inch or two short of his previous vertical leap," wrote Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. "He has been told it typically takes a year to be all the way back after an Achilles rupture."

Despite Taylor's promising progress in his recovery, he isn't likely to have a significant role for the Charlotte Hornets, who added swingman Lance Stephenson to a roster that suddenly is fairly deep.