Blazers are partying like its 1995

That's right, Juwan Howard, star of the Michigan Fab Five teams of the early 90s, is officially a Blazer. No word yet on whether Jimmy King or Jalen Rose will be signed to the final roster spot.

Howard will be filling the Channing Frye role of "big man who can't rebound," albeit with less personality.

Today's signing got me thinking of the Blazer teams of the early 00s, who had a knack for signing aging superstars who were years past their prime. The Blazers of 2000-01 fielded a roster that included Scottie Pippen, Shawn Kemp, Rod Strickland, Detlef Schrempf, Damon Stoudamire, Stacy Augmon, and Steve Smith. All of them were great players ... before they joined the Blazers. By that year, they were either aging veterans with little left in the tank (Augmon, Strickland), on the downswing of their careers (Pippen, Stoudamire, Smith), or legendary examples of a superstar who wasted his talent (Kemp). I remember saying to my friends "man, imagine if this team was together in 1995? They would be unstoppable!"

The Howard signing today makes me realize just how many of the great mid-90s players played for the Blazers at one time or another. It's just too bad none of them played here at the top of their game.

That's why I'm pulling for a Juwan Howard Comeback Tour, 09-10!

Juwan, don't go quietly into that good night, like so many others before you! This is your chance to reassert yourself as the superstar you once were! Make the most of this final opportunity! Exclamation points!!!

The mid-90s will always be my most memorable era of the NBA. Growing up in the 90s, my friends and I collected so many basketball cards that I could look at a picture of a player from 15 years ago and tell you exactly who he was. Names like Grant Long, Carl Herrera, and Todd Day are still familiar to me (and yes, we still thought they sucked even back then). And to this day, I still have a soft spot for the superstars of the mid-90s. The leading scorers, the all-stars with cactus uniforms, the cast of NBA Jam for Super NES, those were the biggest names of an era.

Believe it or not, Juwan Howard is one of the few remaining links to the superstars of the mid-90s, even if he is a shell of the player he once was. There's only a handful of those players left in the league.

So Juwan Howard, I'm pulling for your comeback. Bring a little of that 90s talent back to the league as it approaches a new decade. Make every night Turn-Back-The-Clock Night, and give a little nostalgia to those of us who have an old book full of worthless 90s NBA trading cards. Do it for all the people who saw you team with Chris Webber and Gheorghe Muresan on the Bullets.

Better yet, why don't you bring back big Gheorghe with you? We could also get Muggsy Bougues, and Loy Vaught, and Jamal Mashburn, and Dino Radja, and Penny Hardaway, and Glenn Robinson, and ...