| Kris Humphries: The Forgotten Raptor Authored by Aaron Bronsteter - August 30, 2006 - 12:15 am
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After all, Humphries was a phenomenal freshman for the Minnesota Gophers, averaging 22.1 points-per-game to go along with a stellar 10 rebounds-per-game and earning Big 10 Freshman of the Year honors. But in addition to being named Freshman of the Year, Humphries was also named to the All-Big 10 First Team and was the first player to lead the Big-10 conference in both scoring and rebounding as a freshman in its history. In 29 games, Humphries amassed double digits in both points and rebounds in 16 of them and was compared to Karl Malone by his coach Dan Monson.
Those accolades resulted in the Utah Jazz selecting Humphries with the 14th overall pick in the NBA Draft. Whether he did not fit into the Jazz’s system or did not get along with coach Jerry Sloan can be questioned, but at age 21 and very little opportunity to play on the Jazz (he averaged 13 minutes per game in 2005-2006), Raptors fans have got to be happy that a player who seemingly has a world of upside was acquired for Araujo, who had fallen out of favor with just about everyone in Toronto.
The acquisition of Humphries would have created a stir of anticipation heading into most seasons, but the move seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle of general manager Bryan Colangelo's offseason Raptors makeover. With the signings of Jorge Garbajosa, Anthony Parker and Fred Jones, as well as the drafting of Andrea Bargnani and the acquisitions of point guard T.J. Ford and center Rasho Nesterovic, Humphries seems like a complete afterthought.
Regardless, Humphries has looked impressive with his new team thus far, averaging 12.2 points-per-game and 8.4 rebounds-per-game in summer league competition, where he tallied a double-double in two of the five games.
Despite the signing of Jorge Garbajosa and the selection of Andrea Bargnani, look for Humphries to earn limited minutes on the Raptors and show what he can do. If the Raptors have one weakness, it is Humphries’ strength, which is rebounding. Perhaps his greatest asset is his ability to crash the boards on both ends of the floor and if he works hard in practice, he will be rewarded by coach Sam Mitchell.
Either way, acquiring Humphries now gives the Raptors a fresh opportunity to recuperate from the horrible selection of Araujo. Humphries will likely never mean as much to an NBA team as Andre Iguodala, the player who the Raptors are most often chastised for passing on, but at age 21, Humphries is younger than seven of the 15 players selected in this past year’s NBA Draft lottery.
Had Humphries been the name called when the Raptors selected the eighth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, who knows how he would have panned out, but the fact of the matter is that rather than carrying the burden of having selected Araujo, the Raptors now have a player who is nearly five years his junior and still has a world of upside.
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