From The Fab Five To Portland: Blazers Sign Juwan Howard to One-Year Deal

It's been a long time since Juwan Howard was on Michigan's fabled Fab Five. So long that when Howard came into the NBA 15 years ago from Michigan, his first team was still known as the Bullets before that name was considered in poor taste for a franchise in Washington D.C.

We tell you all this so you get a sense with today's news about the Trail Blazers signing the 36-year-old former All-Star to a one-year deal that there's a lot of tread on Howard's tires (the Blazers are Howard's seventh team). The power forward likely won't get much more than clean-up minutes, but Howard has been known for his toughness and grit, as evidenced by this clip from the 2007 NBA Playoffs:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJJ_rWBgZJg[/youtube]

The deal does bring the Blazers' roster count to 14 with training camp just a couple weeks away and Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard says Howard adds experience to the young team.