Fantasy Basketball: Isaiah Canaan’s Value Jumps Dramatically With Trade
By Mike Marteny
The Philadelphia 76ers were certainly busy at the trade deadline today. In this deal, they acquired Isaiah Canaan, presumably to be their point guard of the future. Or at least for the rest of the 2014-15 season. The trade looks like this:
Perhaps the biggest surprise here is that the Sixers dealt K.J. McDaniels. McDaniels had a lot of upside coming into the season, and although he struggled at times, he showed flashes of becoming a good player in the league. Now instead of developing on a team of young talent, he will rot on the Houston bench.
The Sixers acquire yet another draft pick. This time they get the lower of Houston’s second round picks that came from Denver and Minnesota. At any rate, it will be one of the top eight picks of the second round. With a solid draft class this year, it could turn out to be a relevant NBA player.
From a fantasy perspective, Canaan may even be a bigger winner than Goran Dragic. He played pretty well in the early season absence of Patrick Beverley until he got hurt and was replaced by Jason Terry. He never regained a spot in the rotation.
Now he finds himself in Philadelphia, who is now without both Michael Carter-Williams and Tony Wroten. Canaan’s only competition for PG minutes will be Larry Drew and JaKarr Sampson. Neither of which has performed particularly well at the spot. Canaan will get as many minutes as his body can handle.
That makes him worth adding in any 12 team or larger league, and makes him a fringe standard league guy. He didn’t put up big assist numbers in Houston with Beverley out, but he was still a productive player. He is worth adding in all category leagues because he is a good three point shooter. He doesn’t fit the mold of the typical point guard, but Philadelphia is without other options.
McDaniels goes from starting most nights in Philadelphia to fighting for scraps in Houston. The Rockets are already deep with James Harden at SG and Trevor Ariza and Josh Smith at SF. He could see some minutes while Dwight Howard is out, but likely not enough to make him relevant anywhere but in deep leagues. He can be dropped in any league with less than 16 teams.
The wild card here is what Philadelphia will decide to do at SG. Robert Covington can play the position, which would make sense because the team is loaded in the frontcourt. They could also elect to use Hollis Thompson at SG where he has played quite a bit this season. Moving Covington likely wouldn’t increase his value any, but it could make Luc-Richard Mbah a Moute worth hanging on to in 12 team or larger leagues. If Thompson starts there permanently, he would be worth adding in deep leagues only unless he gets hot.
The interesting thing is also what the Sixers plan to do long term. Tony Wroten would be an interesting target for those of you in keeper or dynasty leagues. He will likely beat out Canaan next year for the starting PG spot assuming the Sixers don’t draft an NBA ready point man or sign one in the offseason. You may be able to buy Wroten at a discount since he is done for the year and stash him on your IR. Whatever you do, don’t pay full price. It is far from a given that he takes over the role.
Stay with us here at Fantasy CPR all day for the breakdown of all the deadline deals!