Isaiah Canaan Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets Assign Canaan, Covington To D-League

November 7th, 2013 at 11:05am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets became the first team this season to assign players to the D-League, when they announced today that Isaiah Canaan and Robert Covington would join the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Twitter link via Jason Friedman of Rockets.com).

Neither Canaan nor Covington has seen the court for Houston so far during the regular season, so it makes sense that the team would send them to the Vipers, where they’ll get a chance to play. Both rookies figure to shuttle back and forth between the NBA and D-League squads frequently this year — as I wrote when I examined D-League assignment trends in the spring, few teams use their D-League affiliates more actively than the Rockets.

D-League camps are set to open Friday, but the Vipers’ regular season schedule doesn’t get underway until November 23rd, so it’s not clear yet how long Canaan’s and Covington’s assignments will last.

Rockets Sign Isaiah Canaan

July 11th, 2013 at 8:54pm CST by Alex Lee

The Rockets and second round pick Isaiah Canaan have agreed to a three-year contract with the third year being a team option, according to agent Reggie Brown (Twitter link and story via Fox Houston's Mark Berman). Canaan was said to be drawing first round interest in June's draft, but dropped to No. 34 where the Rockets jumped on him.

Canaan averaged 21.8 points and 4.3 assists per game as a senior at Murray State. He figures to be ready to score at the NBA level, and should be an offensive asset off the bench for the new-look Rockets sooner rather than later. If the rumors that the team is shopping Jeremy Lin prove true, Canaan could be thrust into a significant role on a team with title aspirations.

Southwest Notes: Spurs, Pelicans, Draft, Burke

June 27th, 2013 at 1:20pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest draft rumors out of the Southwest Division..

Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter) hears that point guard Trey Burke was very close to a promise from the Pelicans at No. 6. Hoops Rumors' most recent mock draft has the Michigan product going No. 8 to the Pistons.
Among the players believed to have piqued the Spurs' interest are Murray State guard Isaiah Canaan, Michigan guard Tim Hardaway Jr., North Carolina small forward Reggie Bullock, and Louisville center Gorgui Dieng, notes Jeff McDonald of the Express News.
Virginia Tech's Erick Green made a second trip into San Antonio to workout recently for the Spurs, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Wojnarowski notes that Green, a 6'4" guard, is one of the draft's better scorers.

Draft Rumors: Jazz, McCollum, Bennett

June 22nd, 2013 at 8:29pm CST by Spencer Lund

The Jazz have a lot of question marks this summer, but with the 14th, 21st, and 46th picks in what many consider a wild card "down" draft, their chances of landing a quality starter with a high upside leaves a lot to be desired.

Brad Rock of the Desert News writes about how rare it is to land anyone of merit with the 14th pick in the draft. Sure, there are exceptions, Rock mentions Tim Hardaway's selection by the Warriors with the 14th pick in 1989, but usually there's a dearth of talent in that position, with the pick being "unproductive at worst, respectable at best."

Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune reiterates what Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld wrote in his NBA AM piece: the Jazz will select a point guard, but there aren't a lot of options at their current picks. With few options for a point guard selected in their range, it's unlikely the Jazz will find a difference maker at point guard. When Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey was asked if he would be surprised if the draft came and went without the Jazz selecting a point guard, he said "Not at all."

But Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun said there's a lot of talent at point guard in the late first early second rounds, mentioning Dennis Schroeder, Myck Kabongo, Peyton Siva, Pierre Jackson, Isaiah Canaan, Nate Wolters, and Phil Pressey (Twitter). Here are a few more tidbits from the Jazz and the rest of the league with just five days before the 2013 draft.

Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune believes the Jazz should move up if they're looking for a difference maker, largely mirroring what his colleague Oram wrote; the Jazz aren't going to land anything special, unless they luck out, if they stay put.
ESPN.com's Chad Ford has a list of the 10 green room invites for ESPN's Thursday draft coverage: Nerlens Noel, Victor Oladipo, Otto Porter, Alex Len, Anthony Bennett, Ben McLemore, Trey Burke, Michael Carter-Williams, Cody Zeller & C.J. McCollum.
The selections perfectly align with the top 10 in Ford's latest mock draft, but Ford mentions the NBA is likely to add some more green room attendees as we get closer to the big night, and even offers some guesses as to who else will be invited (Twitter).
About one of those confirmed green room invites, John Rohde of the Oklahoman has a piece on how far McCollum has come since he was a middle school phenom in Oklahoma City.
Another green room invite, Bennett, visited the Bobcats today, but he couldn't work out, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Bennett is recovering from surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff on his left shoulder, but he'll be ready to play in August.
Marcus Fuller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press ranks the Timberwolves' 24 years of draft picks–including Kevin Garnett, Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love–in the days preceding their 26th pick in this, their 25th draft anniversary.
As the draft approaches, Scott Agyness of Pacers.com writes that University of Kansas 7-footer Jeff Withey (represented by Darren Matsubara) participated in his last predraft workout with the Pacers today.

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Rivers, Raps, Nets, 76ers

June 21st, 2013 at 10:14am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics sent out a press release this morning announcing that GM Danny Ainge and head coach Doc Rivers would address the media at 12:00 eastern time today, but Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald tweets that the presser has been postponed until Monday. It's not known whether Ainge and Rivers were ready to make an announcement today, but with no press conference scheduled until Monday now, it appears the team will still have a few more days to negotiate a potential deal with the Clippers. Here's more from around the Atlantic Division:

The Clippers still want to land Rivers, but they believe the Celtics are the team with a timetable looming, and are in no hurry to complete a deal, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star is hearing there will likely be some turnover for the Raptors' coaching staff, with assistants Johnny Davis, Scott Roth, and Tom Sterner not expected to return.
Noting that multiple mock drafts have the 76ers drafting Steven Adams, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer wonders whether the Pittsburgh big man is the best target for the Sixers. Our own mock draft has Philadelphia selecting Cody Zeller at No. 11, with Adams going a pick later.
With C.J. Watson opting out of his contract, the Nets will need a new backup point guard, and may target Isaiah Canaan in the draft, as Fred Kerber of the New York Post writes.

Draft Workout Updates: Friday

June 14th, 2013 at 4:52pm CST by Luke Adams

With the 2013 draft less than two weeks away, the majority of the NBA's teams are continuing to bring in prospects to get a closer look at them. Here are the latest updates on draft workouts:

In addition to Michael Carter-Williams, who we heard about yesterday, Trey Burke and Alex Len also participated in the Pelicans' first draft workout today, tweets Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com.
The Pistons won't start working out players for the No. 8 pick until next week, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, who tweets that Mason Plumlee will work out for the club next Friday.
The six players scheduled to work out for the Nets on Monday include C.J. Leslie and Tony Mitchell, according to a team release.
Ray McCallum, Brandon Paul, Tony Snell, Nate Wolters, Jack Cooley, and Zeke Marshall worked out for the Trail Blazers today, according to Joe Freeman of the Oregonian (Twitter link).
The Timberwolves will work out six players on Sunday, according to the team's PR Twitter account: Shabazz Muhammad, Archie Goodwin, Rodney Williams, James Ennis, Kyle Barone, and Jamelle Hagins (Twitter links).
Brandon Davies, Mike Muscala, Elijah Johnson, B.J. Young, Grant Jerrett, and Colton Iverson worked out for the Clippers today, tweets Clips reporter Madelyn Burke.
Jerrett and Davies are also among the players who will work out for the Jazz tomorrow, along with Snell, Gorgui Dieng, Jamaal Franklin, Isaiah Canaan, and Kelly Olynyk, among others (link via Utah's official site).

Draft Notes: Blazers, Muhammad, McCollum

June 10th, 2013 at 9:06pm CST by Zachary Links

Here's a look at the latest draft news as we close in on June 27th..

The Trail Blazers took a gamble on a mid-major guard last season when they drafted Damian Lillard and Joe Freeman of The Oregonian wonders if they might do the same in 2013 with Lehigh's C.J. McCollum. Portland, who owns the No. 10 pick, worked McCollum out earlier today.
On paper, Shabazz Muhammad is just the type of player that the Kings need, but the outside issues could dissuade them from taking him at No. 7, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
Today's Suns draft workout featured North Texas small forward Tony Mitchell, Duke center Mason Plumlee, Murray State point guard Isaiah Canaan, USC center DeWayne Dedmon, Delaware power forward Jamelle Hagins, and Temple shooting guard Khalif Wyatt, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
The Nets released the workout lineup for their workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Jeff Withey of Kansas, Ray McCallum of Detroit, and Vincent Council of Providence are among the players who will audition in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Draft Updates: Tuesday

June 4th, 2013 at 12:32pm CST by Luke Adams

ESPN.com's Chad Ford has released version 4.0 of his 2013 mock draft (Insider-only link), and as usual, the piece is chock-full of rumors and rumblings he's heard from GMs, scouts, and other league sources. Let's dive in and round up some of the highlights from Ford's latest….

Nerlens Noel remains the default pick at No. 1, but the Cavaliers still haven't made a decision. Otto Porter and Alex Len would be the best bets to supplant Noel.
The Magic's decision at No. 2 is still extremely wide open, with nine players still under consideration, according to Ford.
If Porter and Anthony Bennett are still on the board at No. 3 for Washington, it will be a tough decision, since the Wizards' front office is split over which player it likes better.
The Pelicans will consider point guards with the sixth overall pick, but the team hasn't given up on Austin Rivers as its point guard of the future, so it may go in a different direction.
Ford is "hearing with increasing frequency" that the Pistons could target a point guard with the No. 8 pick.
Dario Saric appears to be a lottery pick, with Ford identifying the Blazers at 10 and the Sixers at 11 as real possibilities for the Croatian prospect, who is a "hot name" right now.
Shane Larkin's workout in Milwaukee was a "wow" for the Bucks, according to Ford, who has the point guard going at No. 15 to Milwaukee.

In addition to Ford's latest mock, there are plenty of other draft updates to pass along this afternoon. Here are a few of them:

Speaking to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, Dennis Schroeder and his agent downplayed reports that he has received a first-round guarantee from an unknown team, perhaps the Celtics. "I don’t know where that came from," agent Alex Saratsis said. "I don’t know anything about that."
The Knicks' workout on Wednesday will feature the following prospects, according to Al Iannazzone of Newsday (via Twitter): Isaiah Canaan, Brandon Triche, Deshaun Thomas, Murphy Holloway, A.J. Matthews, and Norvel Pelle.
The Pistons will bring in Ray McCallum for a workout, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
After recently working out for the Jazz, Cody Zeller will work out for the Suns next, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Amico adds in another tweet that Mark Lyons, who averaged 24.3 PPG in three NCAA tournament contests in March, is working out for the Nuggets.
Ricky Ledo has already worked out for six teams, including the Nuggets, Bulls, Rockets, and Spurs (link via NBA.com).
Ledo will work out for his seventh team on Wednesday, when the Grizzlies hold a session that will also include Jud Dillard, Carrick Felix, Solomon Hill, Angelo Sharpless, and Tony Snell, according to a team release.

Draft Notes: Burke, Kings, Gobert, Karasev

June 3rd, 2013 at 5:25pm CST by Zachary Links

The buzz on the smaller point guards in the 2013 Draft has not been positive, writes Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. Michigan's Trey Burke is widely regarded as the top one-guard in this year's class, but he's getting a lot of criticism for being too slow at the next level. Despite his lack of a fifth-gear, Burke's still likely to land somewhere in the top ten. Here's more on the draft..

Here's a surprising bit of news: the Kings, who own the No. 7 pick, are showing interest in French center Rudy Gobert, according to Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Most mock drafts have him as a late lottery/mid-first round pick, but none have him pegged for the top ten.
More from Kyler, who writes that reviews are mixed on Sergey Karasev's performance this weekend in Las Vegas. Two big concerns from NBA teams were his rather slender frame and his overall feel for the game. The guard/forward is pegged as a late first-round pick in most mock drafts.
Vegas wasn't an ideal setting for Karasev, writes Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd). Karasev had visa issues in Russia and wasn't able to get to Vegas until after midnight on the day of the event and was clearly sluggish from the long trip. Ford sees his draft range Karasev's draft range starting with the Timberwolves at No. 9 and the floor being the Nets at No. 22.
Prospect Steven Adams is in Oklahoma City and worked out for the Thunder today, writes Royce Young of DailyThunder.com. The Pitt center made it clear that he'd like to land in OKC, saying in a Facebook video: “I’d love to be drafted here, man, straight up." Adams could be on the board when the Thunder draft at No. 12, but it's not a certainty.
Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (Twitter link) pegs the odds of the Cavs dealing the No. 1 pick at just 10% based on the overall lack of interest in it.
Point guard prospect Isaiah Canaan will work out for the Knicks and Nets soon, tweets Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com. The Murray State product is projected to go towards the end of the first round or early in the second.
Cody Zeller impressed in his workout for the Jazz, writes Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune. The Jazz pick at No. 14.
Today, the Blazers worked out guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, forward Jared Berggren, guard Sherwood Brown, forward Brandon Davies, guard Abdul Gaddy, and guard Elijah Johnson, tweets Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.

Draft Notes: Knicks, Larkin, Hardaway Jr., Bucks

June 1st, 2013 at 10:12am CST by Zachary Links

Otto Porter, Victor Oladipo, Ben McLemore, and Anthony Bennett will likely be among the candidates visiting with the Wizards in the second or third week of June, when the team will look at candidates for the No. 3 overall pick, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post. For now, the team is concentrating on targets for its pair of second-round pick, and Lee lists more than a dozen such players scheduled for workouts with the team next week. The Wizards' pick may very well come down to a decision between who is left over between Porter and Nerlens Noel, but they'll leave no stone unturned when it comes to their top pick. Here's more draft news..

Former Miami point guard Shane Larkin won’t work out for the Knicks, his agent told Adam Zagoria of SNY. “Currently, Shane’s not scheduled to work out for the Knicks,” agent Steve McCaskill said. “And we don’t have any intentions of scheduling one. We don’t feel like he’s going to be on the board when they select.” The Knicks have the No. 24 pick in the draft and while some view Larkin as a mid-round talent, it's worth noting that DraftExpress currently has him going at No. 23 to the Pacers.
Tim Hardaway Jr. auditioned for the Bucks and told reporters, including Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, that he has already worked out for the Bulls and T'Wolves. The Michigan product is widely viewed as a fringe first-round talent.
Murray State's Isaiah Canaan says he has already worked out for the Spurs and he has more workouts scheduled with the Pacers, Knicks, Cavs, Suns, Mavs, and Jazz, Gardner writes. Canaan, who auditioned for the Bucks, could be a candidate for the club's No. 43 selection.
Former Creighton and Rutgers big man Gregory Echenique will work out for the Wizards, Suns, and Nets in the coming weeks, Zagoria writes. The 6-foot-9, 260-pound center has already worked out for the Celtics, Timberwolves, and Trail Blazers. At this time, Echenique figures to be a second round pick at best.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.