Isaiah Canaan is the key to saving the Houston Rockets' offseason

Htown's Finest · Jul 22, 2014

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on...e-key-to-saving-the-houston-rockets-offseason

LAS VEGAS -- Some of the buzz around the Las Vegas Summer League the past week has been regarding the Houston Rockets and their offseason. They had high hopes of adding a third star to the core of Dwight Howard and James Harden. The plan was to shed salary by dealing Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik, acquire the third star, and then match the offer sheet to Chandler Parsons. This was going to give them a great core.

That's not what happened though. Daryl Morey failed to add stars like Chris Bosh or Carmelo Anthony to the roster. They dealt away Lin and Asik to clear cap space that wasn't so easy to offer up the way they wanted to. The Rockets were never really in the Kevin Love sweepstakes that are still ongoing. When the Dallas Mavericks agreed to an offer sheet for three years and $46 million with Parsons, the Rockets had to use their cap space before matching it. They used it on Trevor Ariza for four years and $32 million, but decided not to match Parsons.

Their offseason plan seemingly blew up in their face by essentially trading three rotation players in Lin, Asik, and Parsons while only bringing in Ariza. It would be impossible for Ariza to make up for the value of what's heading out of town in this offseason. However, the moves Morey has made during July have opened up an opportunity for a young player to emerge.

Isaiah Canaan, a dauntless point guard out of Murray State, was the 34th overall pick in the 2013 draft. The Rockets took him in the second round and eventually gave him a three-year minimum contract. As is the case with most second rounders now, Canaan's path to making has involved putting in work with the development staff, shuttling back and forth between practices in the NBA and games with the D-League affiliate, and waiting for an opportunity to present itself.

"It's all about making the best of the opportunity that's put in front of you," Canaan said after leading the Rockets' summer league team to the championship game. "With the Rockets making [the Lin trade], it gives me the opportunity to go in and compete for a rotation spot. That's exactly what I'm going to do.”

Canaan's game was tailor-made for what the Rockets love to do. He only stands at just about 6-feet, depending on the shoes he's wearing. But he's built like a running back now and uses his strength on the floor. He's also one of the better 3-point shooters at the point guard position. He only shot 32.7 percent in limited opportunities for the Rockets his rookie season, but his 36.9 percent from downtown on nearly nine attempts per game in the D-League tell a different story. In his four years at Murray State, Canaan took 725 3-pointers while making 41.9 percent of them.

He's been the driving offensive force of this Rockets' summer league team, proving he can run a team successfully. Canaan has taken big shots, been a leader on the floor, and showed a relentless attack that puts his team in position to win. It's exactly what Houston would need out of him as a rotation player. He's a sniper on the court, but it doesn't just come from running him off screens or having him spot-up to get him open. He's lethal in the pick-and-roll, and a true shooter who can rise up off the dribble and rip the ball through the net from any range. He's shown the summer league talent can't really hang with him when he gets it going.

“Yeah, I try to do whatever the defense gives me," Canaan said about his game fitting in with how the Rockets love to play. "They back off of me, I rise up and shoot it. They press up on me, I can go by them."

He doesn't have the height of Lin, but he's a much better shooter, and possibly a better decision-maker in the pick-and-roll. Houston has taken the most 3-pointers out of any team the last two seasons, but slipped from ninth in accuracy in 2012-13 to 16th in 3-point percentage this past season. Adding a true marksman to the rotation could get them back where they like to be. The process to get into that rotation over the past year has been arduous but it's starting to work out.

“It was a process," Canaan explained about the last year of one summer league experience to the next. "I was doing everything I was asked to do, at the same time working on my game and making sure I was studying, paying attention to everything that we went through last year. And just learning. That was a big learning experience for me and now I got a chance to go out there and actually produce. That's what I've been trying to do.”

Canaan's time in the D-League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers was instrumental in his development over the past year. On a team that took nearly as many 3-pointers (2,268) as 2-pointers (2,567), Canaan fit right in and made an impact in their system. In 18 games, he averaged 21.8 points, 8.2 assists, and 4.0 rebounds in 34.1 minutes. In four playoff contests with the Vipers, Canaan dropped 34.5 points per game while making 43.6 percent of his 3-pointers (55 attempts in four games). He took what the organization told him to do and flourished with it.

“It's very valuable," Canaan said. "It's a big learning experience down there. Give you a chance to actually play in games. Give you a chance to actually go out there and work on the things you need to work on. At the same time, the coaches and the staff are watching you, so they evaluate you and make sure you're doing the right things. Making sure you're not playing with your head down because you're down there.

Going out with the right mind frame. Showing them you are down here to work; you are down here to do your job. When your name is called, you'll be ready.”

The Rockets will likely be calling his name a lot more this season and Canaan will be ready. Can it lessen the blow of a disappointing offseason? With Canaan, it's always worth a shot.
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I really liked what I saw from Canaan in the summer league this year. His shooting has always been good but his handles seem to have gotten a little better too. I am really pulling for this guy year to make an impact off the bench for us next season. Thoughts?

justtxyank · Jul 22, 2014

Isaiah Canaan is the key to saving the Houston Rockets' offseason
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Mathloom · Jul 22, 2014

I sure hope so. I don't think it will take a miracle to replace Lin's production - because Lin was forced by our system to play to his weaknesses. Canaan is the kind of guy who the system forces to play to his strengths. So even though he's clearly not as good an overall player as Lin right now, his production for our team can be a wash.

My biggest thing with him is his decision making. One would rationally expect that he will know not to take bad shots in the pros when Harden and Howard are on the floor, but it wouldn't be shocking for a player to be unable or unwilling to break that habit. At least off the bench, he'll have a bit more of a green light to get the ball in the hoop.

His defense will hurt us though, that's for sure. Lin was a decent defender and Canaan doesn't seem like he's ready for that.

In any case, it's worth giving Canaan a shot at the backup PG position and it seems likely he will be an NBA rotation player in the long run.

cheke64 · Jul 22, 2014

This is what is has come down to. Smhizzle

Phillyrocket · Jul 22, 2014

Honestly I think Daniels could have the most impact this season if he gets consistent minutes and plays like he did in the playoffs.

It's great to have some young guys with potential but being in win now mode our only chance of improving is to focus on defense. Barring some huge trade of course.

Htown's Finest · Jul 22, 2014

I think what this article is trying to say is even though we lost some guys this offseason all is not lost. DMO played extremely well in the summer league as well as Nick Johnson. Its hard to go from possible getting Chris Bosh and retaining Parsons to losing Lin, Asik, and Parsons and only adding Ariza. But I think the better teams out there like the Spurs prove time and time again that you need good role players coming off your bench. Besides Lin who was pretty decent coming off the bench, our bench really struggled last year. I think Canaan could be that playmaker we need in a sixth man role.

B-Bob · Jul 22, 2014

Sorry, I'm still laughing too hard at post #2, which really sums it up.

AvgJoe · Jul 22, 2014

Melo -> Lebron -> Bosh -> Ariza & Canaan

Boom, we are saved

Let's look back, hmm....summer league...

Let me just stop here...

izeroi · Jul 22, 2014

The key to saving this off season......Geez man lol.

MrButtocks · Jul 22, 2014

I'm hoping he can be an Aaron Brooks type spark off the bench. Key to the offseason? Yikes, that's quite a lot to put on him.

TXRoxBBall · Jul 22, 2014

Nothing like a litttle pressure for a guy that has a total of like 10 minutes in actual NBA game time experience and wasn 't a high draft pick.

daywalker02 · Jul 22, 2014

Bad title... Canaan, Johnson and possibly Capela are small pieces of a potentially decent offseason.

FTW Rockets FTW · Jul 22, 2014

The guy gets blocked way too often for my liking when going for a lay up.

But as long as he has some BBall IQ and knows when to call a timeout, we should be fine

Htown's Finest · Jul 22, 2014

Morey has gotten some of you guys so spoiled lol . Canaan is no Bosh or Melo or LeBron, but without better productivity from our bench we aren't getting that far in the West anyway. Don't undervalue a good bench and good bench players. A bench can make a huge difference from us come playoff time. Even if it only means playing Harden and Howard less minutes in the regular season. We need something to be excited about and I for one am thrilled that Daniels is returning along with the promise of what Canaan may be for us. Our bench should be much improved come next year IMO, and that means a better team.

cebu · Jul 22, 2014

A shining asset indeed.

chenjy9 · Jul 22, 2014

FTW Rockets FTW said: ↑

The guy gets blocked way too often for my liking when going for a lay up.

But as long as he has some BBall IQ and knows when to call a timeout, we should be fine
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That's what happens when David challenges Goliath; sometimes you win some, most of the times you lose and get smacked down to earth.

Jay713 · Jul 22, 2014

Nah. Nope.

CertifiedTroll · Jul 22, 2014

Isaiah Cannan = Gilbert Arenas
Nick Johnson = Chris Paul
T Jones = lesser Dwight Howard

How un-f***ed are we!

xtruroyaltyx · Jul 22, 2014

If Canaan, Dmo and Nick Johnson played for other teams and they had the summer league showing they just had, I think people would see them more positively. But they play for us and people have this self deprecating mentality when it comes to their sports teams (and sometimes in other aspects of life). So naturally they look for the worse.

None of these guys individually or maybe not even collectively should be looked at as saviors for the season (Not that I even believe we need a savior at this point), but I'll just take the summer league for what it was--a good showing by some young players with an upward trajectory, who still have a lot of room to grow.

Rocketman95 · Jul 22, 2014

It is not beyond the realm of possibility that Canaan can replace Lin or DMo the same with Asik. The latter obviously loses some D, but makes up for it on offense (not to mention salary). Add in what appears to be another 2nd round gem by Morey in Johnson and the flexibility they retain by not matching Parsons and going with Ariza, and this offseason would be looking good had we not lost out on Bosh/Parsons as a package. As upset as I was 10 days ago, I'm back to seeing the cup half-full.

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