After trying to acquire Mike James for the past couple of years after foolishly trading him to Toronto for Rafer Alston in 2005, it looks like the Rockets finally will succeed in getting him. Word has it they will trade Juwan Howard for James, and other players may be part of the deal.

Barring any additional players included in the deal that don’t make sense giving up, I’m ecstatic about this move. It was no secret I thought trading James for Alston was a boneheaded move, and it really hurt when James had a career year after becoming a Raptor when the Rockets’ JVG-powered offense struggled without him.

For all the flack that new GM Daryl Morey took with the JVG-Rick Adelman situation, you’ve got to give him lots of credit for this move. Even if James had an off year last season, he is bound to have a good career in Houston. He always wanted to come back to Houston where he had some good seasons, and his wife is from H-Town. James is only 32, so he has a few good years left in him. And when you think about it, there aren’t many point guards available who can score and are affordable.

UPDATE: As everyone knows, the trade went down and it’s official. Minnesota’s Justin Reed was included in the deal. Here’s a photo from the press conference announcing the trade. Pictured is coach Rick Adelman, James, and Rockets’ GM Daryl Morey.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2007 at 12:50 am and is filed under Rockets' off-season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.