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2007-08 Per 36 Minute Averages: 15.5 PTS, 10.1 REB, 1.1 AST, 1.1 BLK, 1.0 STL, 1.8 TO 2007-08 Advanced Stats: .512 TS%, 16.6 TRB%, 15.7 PER These profiles will feature nine players on the Raptors' roster that I have been able to evaluate from previous performance. For explanation of the stat lines, check out my primers on Per 36 Minutes Averages, TS%, TRB% and PER. Kris Humphries has been mostly an afterthought on the Raptors ever since Bryan Colangelo acquired him from the Jazz for Rafael Araujo in June 2006. Most people viewed him as simply a vehicle to jettison the widely-hated Hoffa and had low expectations of him making a significant contribution to the Raptors. Well, a funny thing happened last season — Hump developed into a pretty solid big man coming off the bench. Four seasons into his NBA career, Humphries has yet to play more than 1,000 minutes in an NBA season — and for the first three seasons, that was probably about all the playing time he deserved. But last season, the 22-year-old was the best rebounder on a team that finished 22nd in the league in rebounding differential (-1.54). His total rebounding percentage (TRB) was almost equal to Kevin Garnett's &mdash who had the fifth-highest TRB among starting power forwards. Furthermore, Humphries was a decent defender and low-post scorer. Frankly, the only thing Bargnani did better than Humphries last season was outside shooting — and yet Bargnani averaged more than 10 more minutes per game than Humphries. Sure, Kris Humphries is a bit of a black hole on offense. That's why you limit the amount of time he's on-court with Chris Bosh so he doesn't take too many touches away from "The Franchise". Plus, his 56 percent career free throw success rate is unacceptable. But he's only 23 years old and has made progress in each season of his NBA career. Keep this in mind the next time you want to throw him in with some package to bring a slashing wing player to Toronto. Are you comfortable with a backup big corps consisting entirely of Bargnani and Nathan Jawai? With the departure of Rasho Nesterovic and the likelihood that one or both of Bosh and Jermaine O'Neal will spend some time on the Raptors' Inactive List due to injuries, Hump could end up playing a bigger role in this season than you might expect. Call me crazy, but that possibility doesn't scare me all that much. |
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