Pippen Ain't Easy
Fansided

Chicago Bulls player reviews: Isaiah Canaan

By Michael RENE KANOY

Dec 6, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Isaiah Canaan (0) against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons won 102-91.Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 6, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Isaiah Canaan (0) against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons won 102-91.Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Isaiah Canaan proved during the start of the season and during the playoffs why his game fits in the future plans of the Chicago Bulls. He’s a reliable backup point guard who can defend and score.

Isaiah Canaan knows his role and has his own upside as a backup guard for the Chicago Bulls.

After playing well in the first few games of the season as the second point guard in after Rajon Rondo for his outside sniping and fit with Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic on the second unit, Canaan got benched for the longest time after a series of losses where he was unable to deliver crucial outside shots.

By the middle of the season, the Bulls were seemingly falling apart from within and in the course of resolving team issues, Canaan was still benched and only played in games that were blowouts.

When the playoffs rolled around around, a kink in the Bulls armor came after winning two straight games and Rajon Rondo, the architect of those two wins, suffered a series-ending thumb injury.

More from Pippen Ain't Easy

Both Jerian Grant and Michael Carter-Williams were unable to stop the Boston Celtics pick-and-roll attack with Isaiah Thomas, but when Canaan was put into the game, he promptly shut down Thomas’ perimeter game. Despite the DNP-CD collection Canaan built this season, you can forget about statistics.

Overall, Isaiah Canaan can still play an important role as a backup guard, but Fred Hoiberg and assistant coach Jim Boylen have to put together a blitz option to preempt the pick-and-roll and force the ball out of the hands of the opponents best scoring guard like Thomas. They inexplicably did not do this after planning for it earlier in the year and even won their first meeting against the Celtics running a swarm defense at Thomas.

Canaan played his best NBA games with James Harden and the Houston Rockets in that kind of scoring guard role slashing into the paint like Thomas with plays designed for him and not stuck as the catch-and-shoot corner gunner. Canaan has a walk-up three game and when passes are in rhythm, he can score consistently.

But, those glimpses into his game won’t come unless he gets the minutes to play and for next year, he may still be the backup point guard defender or even traded away if the Bulls find a suitable point guard or another veteran like Rondo who can orchestrate the Bulls offense.

Next: 5 takeaways from the Bulls' season exit meetings

In the meantime, we fans can satisfy ourselves with Canaan’s spunky last stand against Boston and the possibility that he can be better as the second point guard off the bench for Rondo again next year.

Home/Bulls News