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Juwan Howard Heads Up Trio of Roster Moves

Art Garcia breaks the news on his blog that the Mavericks have reached agreement with former Timberwolves power forward Juwan Howard. The deal can't conclude until Howard clears waivers tomorrow. Howard will presumably sign for the full mid-level extension. To make room for Howard, the Mavs released project center D.J. Mbenga, whose development was seriously thrown off by a knee injury at the end of last year. Finally, the Mavs guaranteed shooting guard Mo Ager's salary for next year.

Howard will not only provide more veteran experience, he will also offer a strong offensive post game. The move underlines the Mavericks commitment to making their offense more versatile. With Nowitzki expanding where he starts his offense to further inside and across the key, and some real post players in Howard and Bass, the Mavs have an incredibly difficult offense to stop.

Howard's defense is not his strength, but head coach Avery Johnson has been able to do wonders with the Mavericks based on a disciplined team defense. As a result, until Dampier returns, we may see line-ups with Howard playing center and Dirk at power forward.

Mbenga, a fan favorite, never really was able to demonstrate a feel for the game. His biggest problem was his overaggressive defense, logging fouls at a prodigious clip. In his most extended preseason action, he averaged a foul every 2 1/2 minutes.

No one can deny Ager's talent, but his incremental improvement and inconsistency have seriously dampened what was once healthy optimism for his future. It is possible that the extension is more of a defensive move by the Mavs. With little reason to cut him this year, and the possibility of continued improvement, losing him as the Cavaliers lost Diop was not a pleasant option.

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I do not
expect Ager to ever average more than about 3-5 minutes a game, for his entire NBA career.

JJ will be a much better player than Ager could ever dream of being.

by BrodyV on Oct 30, 2007 7:04 PM CDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Ager
I'm torn on him. I really liked him at Michigan St.
He was super athletic and took it to the hole with authority. My kind of player.

On draft day I was actually hoping the Mavs would end up swinging something to trade up so they could grab him... I was sure he'd be gone in the top 15 picks. So I was elated when they picked him up.

But he hasn't been given much of an opportunity here with Avery and his veteran-or-die attitude toward playing time, and (to b fair) hasn't done much with the opps he has had.

I'm not ready to give up on him yet, though.

I still think there's genuine talent there.

Ben Franklin. Gandhi. Jackie Robinson. Winston Churchill. Martin Luther King. Jesus Christ. And now... Dwyade!!!

by thedirkatron on Oct 30, 2007 11:36 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Here's the problem
Ager hasn't really shown anything beyond "Mo Shots."  I agree, at Mich. he looked like the kind of player who could be a really effective NBA SG- he slashed, he drove, he passed out or took it strong.  But in the NBA, he tends to be a Antonie Walker heave-ho kind of player.

Avery, more than emphasizing "veteran" at the expense of development, has emphasized defense at the expense of Ager.  Ager needs to be punished not for defensive lapses, but for settling for jump shots.  If he were more like (GASP) D-wade in the way he drove to the basket recklessly, he'd get hoops, assists, and fouls.  But he doesn't.  And until he does, I don't think he's worth playing over JJ.

by BrodyV on Oct 30, 2007 11:52 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Ager
Well, he hasn't exactly been given a shot.

Check out his game log from last season.

Other than that last little stretch of the season when we were resting our starters, all he ever got were garbage minutes. His high in minutes was 9, and he attempted more than three shots only twice.

It's very hard to evaluate someone from how they play in garbage time, and I honestly never got enough looks at him in real situations.

I just think his athleticism is something that could benefit this team if Avery decided to work him into the lineup. I thought he did a nice job of staying aggressive in the playoffs when he was subbed in.

But this brings me to another point: I think one of Avery's main weaknesses as a coach is his reluctance to give young guys a shot. How are you going to ever find out if a young kid has it or not if you're not willing to give him a shot? Look how long it took him before he trusted Devin Harris. He's almost Larry Brown-esque in that regard and it really bothers me.

Ben Franklin. Gandhi. Jackie Robinson. Winston Churchill. Martin Luther King. Jesus Christ. And now... Dwyade!!!

by thedirkatron on Oct 31, 2007 10:36 AM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Full Mid-level??
Wait a second, are we really spending the FULL mid-level exception on Juwan Howard?  That can't be right.  I figured he'd be signing for the vets min.

by year2000ready on Oct 31, 2007 12:21 PM CDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

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