Ford, Lynch and Broussard on the ESPN Daily Dime answering questions. Daily Dime Edit: A few quotes: Kendrick Perkins Any chance i get traded tonight along with the 12 & 29 pick for a true center for a contender? Either draft or sign and trade? Andrew Lynch, Daily Dime Live Why would anyone trade for you? Chris Broussard Also hearing that Toronto is looking to grab the No. 2 pick. Not sure who they're targeting, but Oladipo is an educated guess....
A promise in the 30's. Why would a kid shut it down with a promise in the second round? Answer: Because somebody is going to give him guaranteed money for 2 years and a third year guarantee that offsets what he would make in 2 years riding the bench for some team that doesn't have a role for him. Can you say Chandler Parsons' contract?
Can I give myself a little pat on the back for this? I won't pretend Canaan was my top pick or only pick, but I think I explained my rationale for picking Canaan quite well, and that was backed up by Morey in the press conference. I felt that with his lack of playmaking not being as big of an issue next to Harden, that Canaan may be worth more to the Rockets than he would be as a PG to other teams. He also fits well as the 3rd PG behind Lin and Beverley, with Lin the most complete 2-way PG on the team, Beverley can come in to help shore Harden's deficiencies on defense, and Canaan can be the shooter at PG position the Rockets need off the bench to give the defense a different look. And Canaan is very good both spot-up and off the dribble. Basically the reason Morey traded for Brooks last season, and Canaan looks like a Brooks-lite except with better (Lowry-like) strength and defense (although not exceptional there either).
From the Rockets.com website Here’s more of Clibanoff’s analysis of Canaan from the pre-draft profile he put together on the Murray State product: Not just a good shooter, but he is rather the guy to whom expressions like the following apply: "is in range when he steps in the gym", "shoots the $%^& out of it", "the guy you want to shoot the bomb in crunch time"...Is adept with catch-and-shoot balls, but also gets it going in a hurry when he is in rhythm (sometimes takes a number of shots to start feeling it) as he can compose his body easily...Good penetrator who will rarely be denied when he puts his mind to it...Gets into the heart of defenses with power and presence and he absorbs contact very well (but knows his limitations)...Uses his strong body well when checking opposing guards but isn’t a high-level defender. Would be ideal to play off of stars - for example the way Boobie Gibson was when he played alongside LeBron in Cleveland…Dana Barros is a good case study of a similar player - was a solid 15-20 mpg player for those Seattle teams that made the playoffs in the early 90s. Even nailed (Boobie Gibson next to Lebron comment) this if you read my original post. Said if not these two, perhaps sign Gibson as a veteran free agent. This is an option we should put next to Harden as back-up PG.