FEBRUARY 1, 3:24pm: Canaan underwent his surgery this afternoon and will miss the rest of the season, Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic confirms (via Twitter). The Suns expect him to be ready for the start of training camp next season, per Bordow. As noted below though, Canaan’s contract with Phoenix will expire before then.
JANUARY 31, 11:48pm: Canaan has a fractured fibula and will require surgery, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7. The injury seems to be very similar to the one suffered by Gordon Hayward earlier this season, right down to the gruesome nature of the video.
11:23pm: Suns point guard Isaiah Canaan has been diagnosed with a left ankle fracture after taking a brutal fall during the first quarter of Wednesday night’s game against Dallas, the team announced tonight (via Twitter). No recovery timetable was announced for Canaan, but his season appears to be over.
Canaan, 26, initially joined the Suns when the injury-ravaged team was granted a hardship exception to carry an extra player in December. By the time that exception expired, Canaan had earned himself a rest-of-season roster spot, with Phoenix opting to keep him around and waive Mike James instead.
Heading into Wednesday’s contest, Canaan had appeared in 18 games for the Suns, averaging 9.4 PPG and 4.2 APG with a .381/.323/.902 shooting line. He also played in one game for the Rockets at the start of the season before being cut by Houston.
With Greg Monroe having reportedly reached a buyout agreement with the Suns, the team will soon open up a roster spot and could use it to add a replacement for Canaan. Simply waiving the veteran guard is also an option, since Canaan’s contract doesn’t include any guaranteed money beyond this season. Phoenix won’t be able to re-sign James though, since he’s now on a two-way deal in New Orleans.
Ok wtf world why are you doing this to good people
It might seem cold-hearted, but the best move for the Suns will be to cut him and try to find another couple of young pieces on 10 days through his spot and Monroe’s. Phoenix is just snake bitten with injuries though. It really is just bad luck.
Cold-hearted would be an understatement. Pay that man.
Think they can release him under a injury designation where he gets paid like insurance
He would still get paid for this season if he is cut. It would just open a roster spot. If they think he is potentially part of their future, they could always re-sign him this off season. If they don’t, then they probably would cut him in the off season anyway.
I was watching this game closely, nothing much else was happening after CJ torched CHI. So I decided to check in on Booker, Smith and see if Chriss and Bender might show just a flash.
Mercifully, I turned away for about 30 seconds and heard the announcers choke in unison. Just saying “oh no. not again. You don’t want to see this.”
It was awful and I was spared the mental image. Poor kid.