Empty the Bench

You knew that both of these squads would have changes afoot this summer, but whether or not both come out winners after their first move remains to be seen. In a trade that makes a whole lotta sense for Houston, and not so much for Minnesota, pricey, streaky point guard Mike James was packaged with little-used forward Justin Reed in exchange for veteran power forward Juwan Howard.

“Even Houston thinking about me is a blessing but until I see it on the ticker I won’t believe it. I’m so excited,” James told Houston television station KRIV on Wednesday night prior to the trade’s completion. “It would give me that chance to retire in Houston.”

Garnett, meanwhile, is expected to welcome the arrival of Howard, a 34-year-old former All-Star, after publicly calling — repeatedly — for more size in the Wolves’ frontcourt and more of a veteran presence in the locker room. Howard averaged 9.7 points and 5.9 rebounds in 26.6 minutes per game last season. His contract is one year shorter than James’ deal, with just two seasons to run at $14.3 million.

That’s all well and good about Howard providing some more frontcourt depth and, well, age. And shedding James’ albatross of a contract and sometimes pissy attitude could do wonders for Randy Foye’s development and GM Kevin McHale’s ability to mismanage a little extra cash and spend it on the wrong free agents (again). Still, does McHale really feel like Howard’s acquisition is what KG was asking for? An over-the-hill forward whose best years are clearly behind him? Maybe we’re overthinking this, but it seems like when KG asked for more help and veteran leadership up front, he was thinking more along the lines of, say, a Jermaine O’Neal. Ya know, a player that can step in and help elevate the team out of mediocrity and into something bordering on legitimate contender.

Beyond that, what does this say of the team’s faith in last year’s second-round pick Craig Smith? Unheralded coming into the league, Smith was a pleasant surprise and established himself as a guy who may not put up huge numbers in the boxscore, but that makes things happen. He’s in that breed of “hustle players” you’re hearing more and more about. For his rookie season, Smith averaged 7.4 points, 5.1 boards, and 53% FG per in just under 20 minutes of action. He played in all 82 regular-season games.

Howard will no doubt eat into Smith’s minutes, which we strongly feel he deserves more of next season (somewhere in the neighborhood of 30, unless the ‘Wolves bring in a big-name draft pick with the #7 overall pick, which they could very well do). Is it worth it to set back a young, hungry guy in the name of trotting out a solid but unspectacular vet who’s not going to make enough of an impact to push this team over the top in Northwest division?

Perhaps this was more of a salary move than anything else. If not, however, McHale is sorely fooling himself if he’s counting on Juwan Howard to be anything more than a role player next season for the Timberwolves.

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