When should we expect Canaan to crack the rotation? At all this year? I've been excited to see him play since Morey touted him as one of the best shooters to come out of college in a while (whether he was just blowing smoke remains to be seen).
In D League for first half of the year or so. Then, he'll be brought to the Rockets. He'll be the third point guard and only see garbage time unless one of the following happens: 1) Lin or Beverley is traded/injured; or 2) Rockets play a lot of 2-PG lineups allowing for Canaan to get some minutes.
Lots of D-League action for the first half of the season at least barring injuries and an out-of-the-body performance in training camp & preseason where he makes Beverely & Brooks look like amateurs... which I doubt will happen. In training camp he will be given a chance as everyone will to impress, but the experience the other guys (Lin, Bev, Brooks) have in running an NBA team, running McHales system, reputation, and knowing what the coaches are looking for will help them out tremendously in getting an upper-hand on Canaan. Canaan will spend a majority of the season in the D-League.... which will at least make RGV games much more exciting... and hopefully having a PG as the #1 player down there helps the style of play to be that much better with actually running a team oriented system. He will be asked to orchestrate plays, and prove that he can run a team at the next level.
Need to watch how he does defensively. He'll start at RGV no doubt unless we trade Lin. If we trade Lin (I don't think this will happen) then he'll possibly move to a backup role but I doubt it for now. He'll be at RGV for most of the first half of the season..if he does well then he could become the 4th guard in the rotation behind Harden/Lin/Beverley by the end of the season.
Anything less than Magic Johnson then I am disappointed. Canaan will play center in the final game of the finals, leading the Rockets to their next championship.
D League all season unless there are multiple PG injuries or a big trade. I don't expect to see him until he's a sophomore, and even then it's an even chance whether it is as a Rocket or on some other team.
Strange. Machado is an undrafted player that is a great passer but can't shoot to save his life. He was always a long shot to make the team. Canaan is a drafted player that is a great shooter but not a great passer. He is expected to make the team and has been called the steal of the draft by scouts and Daryl Morey. Canaan is pretty much the exact opposite of Scott Machado.
first year realistic expectation = dleague (unless jl/bl is traded/injured) second year expectation = god knows