Houston Rockets add Isaiah Canaan to the backcourt

By Eric Spyropoulos | Oct 24, 2017

Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images /

With Chris Paul going down with an injury, the Houston Rockets had a void to fill in the backcourt, which they have now addressed with the signing of Isaiah Canaan.

The Houston Rockets are banged up. Despite their 3-1 record on the season, the team is currently dealing with injuries to Chris Paul, Trevor Ariza and Nene.

The Paul injury is the most concerning because A) he is the team’s second best player and B) he is expected to miss anywhere from 2-4 weeks.

Because their backcourt was already thin, the Paul injury has put tremendous pressure on James Harden and Eric Gordon. Mike D’Antoni has tried to have at least one of them on the floor at all times, but that has led to some offensive struggles.

Gordon is a capable ball-handler, but is best suited as the secondary creator and spot-up shooter in a lineup. With Paul out, Gordon has been playing point guard when Harden goes to the bench, and surrounding him with inconsistent shooters in P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute has led to some offensive stagnation.

More from Houston Rockets

That’s where Isaiah Canaan comes in to play. As ESPN‘s Chris Haynes reported, Canaan is expected to sign with Houston. Most Rockets fans will remember Canaan from his brief stint with the team during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.

Canaan is best known for his shooting, averaging 1.7 3-pointers made per game during the course of his career. Although he has been a league-average shooter (35.2 percent) for his career, he has the ability to get hot from beyond the arc at any time.

Canaan’s best season came with the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2015-16 season in which he averaged 11 points per game while hitting 36.3 percent of his 3-pointers.

One of, if not the best game of his NBA career came in the aforementioned season, when he put up 31 points (while hitting eight 3-pointers) against the Oklahoma City Thunder:

With Paul out and Houston lacking any other reliable guards besides Harden and Gordon, Canaan should be able to carve out a 10-15 minute role on a nightly basis over the next month. Canaan’s shooting and offensive prowess will help the second unit, as he can play alongside Gordon or Harden when necessary.

Next: 2017-18 Week 2 NBA Power Rankings

This signing indicates that the Rockets know they couldn’t proceed with a guard rotation of Harden, Gordon and Demetrius Jackson. Canaan is an inconsistent player (and shooter), but is NBA-tested and has experience being a key cog in an offense. Now the Rockets hope he can contribute in a smaller role over the next month while Chris Paul recovers from his injury.

Home/Houston Rockets