Spurs sign Josh Howard - This is not a joke

Spurs waive Josh Howard, likely sending him to Austin

The ex-Maverick should be heading to the Spurs D-League affiliate, the Austin Toros, to continue his rehab under the watchful eyes of San Antonio staffers.

The high-character San Antonio Spurs have signed a man whose path through the NBA isn't exactly littered with accommodations. I'm a Spurs fan, so I will react to this news as I do to all signings -- I hope the best for all parties involved.

But I am not a happy camper.

This feels about as surreal as can be. I've been fairly vocal in the past about my feelings about The Bug, so it's going to take a while for me to wrap my brain around this one. That said, it's official. So here you go.

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed forward Josh Howard. Per club policy, terms of the contract were not announced.

Howard, 6-7/210, was originally drafted 29th overall in the first round of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks where he played for seven seasons (2003-10). He has also suited up for the Washington Wizards (2010-11), Utah Jazz (2011-12) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (2012-13).

In 507 career NBA games, the Wake Forest University product has averaged 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 30.3 minutes.

Can anyone see a silver lining to this? I'm in need of some rampant optimism. I seem to be fresh out.

UPDATE:

The anti-Howard vibe of this post is purely personal.

The man was a part of a Dallas Mavericks squad that was overly physical with Manu in dozens of regular season games, and several postseason series. The Bug was himself responsible for multiple cheap shots on Manu, one of which was a closed fist strike to the face after Manu had beaten him and was in the act of dunking the ball -- a play where he had no chance whatsoever of stopping Manu.

This is why it’s hard to see him as a Spur.

The character issue is just a foundational deal where guys who are notorious tokers generally don’t find themselves in San Antonio. But if that (and his injuries) were the only issues, then I’d simply chalk up the signing to PATFO being comfortable with him having moved on from his reckless youth, before getting used to the idea of him being a Spur.

But with his history, I'm simply not looking forward to cheering for the man. Not at all.

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