Thursday, June 14, 2007

Mike James versus Juwan Howard -- What to Expect

Per his entry at www.basketball-reference.com the Wolves traded for Mike James coming off a Joe Dumars/Isiah Thomas/Jason Terry type year with Toronto. In 2006-07 they got a Howard Eisley/Sam Vincent/Negele Knight type year out of James. Not quite what they bargained for.

By acquiring Howard, the Wolves acquire a guy who has two basic skills -- he can hit an open jumper, and he can hit the defensive glass. So, basically, they acquired a VERY poor man's KG.

Howard's deficiencies -- old, rarely gets an offensive board, mediocre assist man, and NEVER gets a steal or a block (one of the worst in the league at his height in these defensive stats).

So, Houston is getting the bigger upside, the Wolves are getting the smaller headache.

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