Bulls sign Isaiah Canaan, look to have competition for backup guard roster spot

Bulls made a signing last night, inking a deal with guard Isaiah Canaan.

It's reported as a 2yr, $2m deal, but that's essentially the minimum for a player of Canaan's service (3 years) and there's no reports on whether it's a guaranteed contract. Update: Thanks JSlakov in the comments, KC Johnson is reporting the 2nd year is a team option, implying the first year is guaranteed.

That's a pretty significant detail, as he'll be battling with Jerian Grant (guaranteed) and Spencer Dinwiddie (not) in training camp for a backup guard spot.

Canaan turns 25 at the end of the month and has lived an NBA life in Moreyball, being drafted by Houston in 2013 and then traded to Morey's disciple Sam Hinkie a couple years later. He was set to be a restricted free agent, but the Sixers new management rescinded his qualifying offer.

Is he any good? Not really! If you remember the story of the great Sixers resurgence of 2016 when then traded for Ish Smith to give them competent PG play...the man he was replacing at the position was Canaan. He's proven to be not much of a ball distributor, so a move off the ball made sense but you can see that didn't go much better in this entertaining read from LibertyBallers.

Canaan finished the season shooting 36.3% from beyond the arc, and 40.1% in catch-and-shoot situations on nearly four attempts per game. Those numbers are really solid, and with the NBA becoming more reliant on perimeter shooting, his knack for threes could be enough to land him a roster spot. It's everything else about his game that makes him almost unplayable on a legitimate NBA team.

Other than his aforementioned distribution woes, he is incredibly ineffective off the dribble. His handles are sloppy, and most shots he takes around the rim are so wild because he can barely keep the ball under his dribble. It's a large part of the reason why 67 percent of his shots are from beyond the arc, and the few shots he takes from inside the three-point line are so ineffective.

There's also the mentioned problem them of Canaan being under 6'1", not ideal when guarding shooting guards.

But indeed, he's a shooter. And the Bulls certainly need those. But I already saw a BaB commenter compare Canaan to Jannero Pargo, so this whole thing is ruined for me already.