Isaiah Canaan Gets His Big Break in Philadelphia
Sam Hinkie never disappoints at the trade deadline, and this year’s iteration of deals was no different than his last. The Philadelphia 76ers once again were active at the deadline, picking up a bunch of picks, including the bounty that is the Lakers’ top-five protected 2015 first-rounder. The Sixers also shuffled around the point guard spot, shipping away Michael Carter-Williams to the Milwaukee Bucks. The other deal included dealing K.J. McDaniels to the Houston Rockets for MCW’s replacement — Isaiah Canaan.
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Canaan, a 6’0″ point guard from Murray State, had been the backup to Patrick Beverley in Houston. A second-round pick by the Rockets in 2013, Canaan spent much of his rookie season in the Daryl Morey fantasy camp that is the Rio Grande Valley Vipers D-League team. There, he shot 8.7 threes per contest, averaged 22 points, four rebounds and eight assists, and was RGV’s best player. He got a call-up to the Rockets about midseason, and had been there for a majority of the time since.
Canaan was a Rockets’ development project, but with the ridiculous season James Harden has been having, combined with opportunities to grab Josh Smith and Corey Brewer, the Rockets slowly squeezed Canaan from their rotation as they quested for a title. Canaan has only played two of the Rockets’ previous 16 contests, as he has had minutes sapped by the presence of Brewer and Jason Terry behind Beverley. There wasn’t a place for Canaan to get minutes, and the Rockets needed wing depth; therefore, the Sixers took advantage, grabbing Canaan for McDaniels.
Nov 28, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard Isaiah Canaan (0) shoots during the first quarter as Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) defends at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
In Philadelphia, Canaan should get much more of an opportunity to showcase himself than he was getting in Houston. Teaming with Tim Frazier in the backcourt, Canaan will certainly get more playing time with the 76ers, and he offers several strengths that make him an intriguing fit for what this team needs to improve on — perhaps even more than McDaniels had to offer.
Canaan’s biggest draw to the 76ers is three-point shooting. Canaan was molded in Rio Grande Valley, so he knows how to chuck, and hit, threes at a good rate. In 25 games this year, he’s shot 38.1 percent from outside, and posted a three-point rate of 64.1 percent. As illustrated below by his shot chart, he’s great at hitting from above the break and from the left corner:
Canaan has been particularly effective at hitting pull-up threes, especially coming off the pick-and-roll. He’s shooting a pretty ridiculous 53.6 percent on pull-up threes this season, per SportVU, and those account for 21 percent of his total shots. He also got plenty of catch-and-shoot looks in Houston’s system, and while he shot 33.3 percent on those, he was deadly from the left corner, hitting 57 percent. And just having one spot where he’s lethal as a catch-and-shoot three-point shooter gives the 76ers more than the team currently has from outside.
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Canaan’s abilities in the P-n-R overall are astounding. He’s a step below your Damian Lillards and John Walls as a finisher out of that look, but his pull-up game is fantastic. He curls off screens very well, and has a great mind for when to pull up and when to take his man to the hole. In 46 possessions he’s scored 1.02 points per possession out of the PNR, per NBA.com Synergy stats, one of the highest rates in the league. Comparatively, Carter-Williams and Wroten both have posted around 0.58 points per possession out of the PNR. Canaan should regress a bit now that he’s running high screens with Henry Sims and Nerlens Noel instead of Smith and Dwight Howard, but still, that’s great improvement.
Canaan’s not a great passer, which is where the Sixers’ offense will take the biggest hit without MCW. Canaan has posted just 2.8 assists per 36 minutes this season, and assisted on just 14.1 percent of Rocket baskets while he was on the floor. He’s always been a score-first point guard, and developing his passing acumen will be Philly’s most important task. Given that Frazier and Larry Drew are incredibly unproven, and the Sixers haven’t gotten much out of their wings in terms of passing, Canaan’s passing ability will be tested as he’s charged with creating for teammates consistently, likely from the starting role.
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Defensively, Canaan’s solid as a perimeter defender. Canaan had plenty of concerns coming out of the draft based on his size, but he’s proven at least capable of defending opposing point guards. Canaan’s overall opponent shooting percentage is two percent lower than league average, per SportVU, and he excels at defending threes, where opponents have shot nine percent worse with Canaan defending them. It’s obviously small sample size due to the number of minutes Canaan was playing, but the Rockets were astoundingly 5.7 points per 100 possessions better with Canaan on the floor — and had a better defensive rating when Beverley was on the floor. The Sixers got good defensive production from Carter-Williams, and that will also be difficult to replace. However, Canaan definitely seems capable, and could develop into a pretty nice defender with Brett Brown coaching him.
Canaan may struggle mightily with the things Carter-Williams was best at, like grabbing steals, rebounds, and assists. However, he brings a dimension to the 76ers that they have been lacking, especially since Tony Wroten went down with a partial ACL tear.
Canaan can create well out of the pick-and-roll, and overall is pretty solid at generating his own offense. The Sixers have desperately needed shot creators, and Canaan excels at that. We also can’t forget that Canaan has great chemistry with the Sixers’ other major offensive player, Robert Covington, who spent some quality time destroying people with Canaan at RGV last season. That little two-man game should be fun to watch. Canaan may not be the fan favorite Carter-Williams was, and he may not be as spectacular of an individual talent. However, he addresses some of the Sixers’ most glaring backcourt needs, and finally gets his own chance to shine.
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