Isaiah Canaan: Passable Shooter, Not a Good Passer

Jan 30, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Isaiah Canaan (0) dribbles against the Golden State Warriors at Wells Fargo Center. The Golden State Warriors won 108-105. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 30, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Isaiah Canaan (0) dribbles against the Golden State Warriors at Wells Fargo Center. The Golden State Warriors won 108-105. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

On Tuesday night during the Chicago Bulls’ win over the San Antonio Spurs in Las Vegas, the Bulls signed former Philadelphia 76ers guard Isaiah Canaan to a two-year deal. Here’s a look at Canaan and what he brings to the table.

After the news leaked that the Bulls signed Isaiah Canaan to a two-year deal on Tuesday night, the signing gave the Bulls four point guards on the depth chart with summer leagues coming to a close.

Outside of the newly-signed Rajon Rondo, the other three guards — Canaan (25), Spencer Dinwiddie (23) and Jerian Grant (23) — all are 25 years old or younger.

As of now, the depth chart of the Bulls is befuddling. The Bulls are four-deep at the lead guard position and outside of Rondo penciled in as the projected starter, there’s no telling what the Bulls are going to do behind him. Grant has only played in limited action in the NBA last season with the New York Knicks and Dinwiddie missed most of the 2013-14 season with a torn ACL that ended his college career at Colorado.

That leaves the six-foot, 201-pound Canaan, who played a boatload of minutes for the woeful 10-72 Philadelphia 76ers last season.

When you glance at Canaan’s numbers, some of them are promising. He shot a respectable 36.3 percent from three-point range on 6.3 attempts per game (14th in the NBA). His three-pointers attempted rate (3PAr) was .672, which sounds like a Fred Hoiberg-type of signing.

(Basically, that figure means 67.2 of Canaan’s shot attempts came from beyond the three-point line last season.)

Here’s where the issues lie: everything else.

For a player that played 1,966 minutes in 77 games, numbers like an 11.3 assist percentage (AST%) for a lead guard that had a 19.9 usage percentage (USG%) isn’t a good sign.

Like Jake Pavorsky of SB Nation‘s Liberty Ballers blog on the Sixers wrote two months ago, “The ball constantly stayed glued to Canaan’s mitts, resulting in poor movement and a ton of long, isolated three-point attempts by the 24-year-old.”

On top of that, Canaan shot a respectable percentage from three-point land. Everywhere else? Not so much.

During last season, the Sixers brought in Ish Smith, T.J. McConnell continued to improve over the course of the season and Canaan was “demoted” to an off-ball guard position in Philadelphia’s rotation.

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The Bulls had their own issues with guards that couldn’t move the ball around the floor efficiently, so hearing (and seeing a brief bit of film) that Canaan is an Aaron Brooks-type of guard isn’t exactly exciting.

To be fair, Canaan won’t be expected to play a prominent role with the Bulls like he had to when Kendall Marshall tore his ACL and Sixers head coach Brett Brown moved Canaan into the starting point guard slot.

(Plus, the Sixers weren’t trying to win games, so…)

With how high the Bulls were on Jerian Grant during the draft process last summer and the signing of Rajon Rondo, it appears that Canaan and the previously-waived (but playing in Vegas with the SummerBulls) Spencer Dinwiddie will be in a training camp battle for a potential third slot on the point guard depth chart.

(Friendly reminder: The Bulls actually have their own D-League team this season, so either guard (or both) could find themselves in Hoffman Estates this season with the Windy City Bulls.)

Next: Bulls fans, don't rush into judgment of Las Vegas Summer League performances

The Bulls have already had their experiences with vacuum guards like John Lucas III, Nate Robinson and the aforementioned Aaron Brooks. Isaiah Canaan feels like that type of guard.