Juan Howard FOR Mike James ，交易已接近完成 … - 明尼蘇達灰狼 Minnesota Timberwolves

※ [本文轉錄自 Rockets 看板]

作者: outdance (修身) 看板: Rockets
標題: Juan Howard FOR Mike James ，交易已接近完成（ESPN、紀事報、FOX
時間: Thu Jun 14 08:54:57 2007

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2903593

Sources: Rockets agree to trade Howard to Wolves for James
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

Updated: June 13, 2007, 8:32 PM ET

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets, who have been discussing
a Mike James-for-Juwan Howard swap in one form or another since the February
trade deadline, have agreed in principle to finally complete that deal this
month, ESPN.com has learned.

An announcement of the trade's completion could be made as early as this
week, according to NBA front-office sources.

The holdup stems from the possibility that another player or two could be
added to the deal, sources say. The teams, though, have verbally agreed
to a straight-up exchange of James for Howard at the very least.

The Timberwolves beat out Houston for James' free-agent signature last summer
because of their willingness to include a trade kicker in the well-traveled
point guard's four-year, $23.4 million contract, but the acquisition was
questioned from the start after Minnesota landed Randy Foye in the 2006
draft.

James then struggled to make an impact with his new team, averaging just
10.1 points in 25.3 minutes per game and eventually losing his starting spot
after enjoying a breakout season in Toronto in 2005-06.

A strong recruiting pitch from Wolves forward Kevin Garnett -- along with
the trade bonus he held out for in negotiations -- convinced James to spurn
similar financial offers from the Dallas Mavericks and the Rockets, even
though he maintains an off-season home in Houston. But the intense Garnett
and the chatty James clashed almost from the start, according to club sources
, adding to the Wolves' remorse after it quickly became apparent that there
wasn't rotation room for James and Foye.

So the Wolves decided by mid-season that they would try to move their lone
significant off-season acquisition and were on the verge of sending James
to Houston for Howard when the deal fell through on Feb. 22, in part because
Houston was reluctant to change the chemistry on a team that wound up overcoming
numerous injuries to win 52 games.

But Houston's interest in James and adding depth to its backcourt under new
coach Rick Adelman hasn't wavered, thanks to the 31-year-old's successful
stint with the Rockets in the second half of the 2004-05 season.

"This has been difficult," James told ESPN.com in late March when asked to
describe his debut season with the Wolves. "Physically, mentally, emotionally
& all of the above."

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.

沒什麼可翻譯的，就是MJ在狼過的不太好，兩人的交易二月份已經討論過，但火
箭當時害怕破壞更衣室氣氛。KG也有可能歡迎Howard的到來，可以補充狼贏弱的
前場，以及作為老將在locker room發揮他的作用。

這個交易應該在這周內完成，可能會包括一到兩個填頭。

紀事報：
Rockets close to re-acquiring guard James for Howard
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4887975.html

feigen只是說close，還沒最後完成，但語氣已經很肯定。

Guard Mike James, the once and almost Rocket, will be back in the Rockets
backcourt as soon as Wednesday, an NBA official said Tuesday.

The Rockets were close to dealing forward Juwan Howard to the Minnesota Timberwolves
to acquire James., a 6-2 guard who played for the Rockets in the 2004-05
season and who nearly signed with the Rockets as a free agent last summer
.

FOX：

Rockets to Trade Juwan Howard to T-Wolves for Mike James
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages/Sports/Detail?contentId=3485500&version
=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=6.1.1


HOUSTON -- NBA sources tells FOX 26 Sports the Rockets will trade forward
Juwan Howard to the Minnesota Timberwolves for guard Mike James.

Sources tell FOX 26 the deal is still pending league approval and there will
be a conference call Thursday with the two teams and the NBA and that's
when the deal will be finalized.

--