Kris Humphries Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bobcats Increasing Efforts To Trade Ben Gordon

February 14th, 2013 at 11:23am CST by Luke Adams

The Bobcats' desire to trade Ben Gordon has increased following an incident between Gordon and coach Mike Dunlap, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski reports that Gordon was "beyond disrepectful" to Dunlap during Monday's shootaround, resulting in general manager Rod Higgins intervening.

Sources tell Wojnarowski that Gordon refused Dunlap's request to stop bouncing a ball while the coach spoke, and that the veteran guard began baiting Dunlap, telling him he needed to "humble himself." Gordon refused to give the ball to Dunlap and eventually tossed it toward a ball rack, according to the Yahoo! report.

The front office decided not to suspend Gordon following the incident, in part because the team felt it might diminish his trade value, says Wojnarowski. With a 2012/13 salary of $12.4MM and a $13.2MM player option for next season, Gordon doesn't have a ton of value anyway. Charlotte reportedly discussed sending him to Brooklyn for Kris Humphries, but Wojnarowski reports the Nets have put that trade on the back burner, believing it could be revisited closer to the deadline if they don't find another deal they like.

Amico’s Latest: Garnett, Josh Smith, Millsap

February 12th, 2013 at 11:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio is hearing plenty of chatter from around the league, and shares a lot of information in his latest dispatch. He identifies the player receiving the most attention as the deadline approaches, and dishes on several big names. We'll cover the highlights here:

The Celtics are open to trading Kevin Garnett, but president of basketball ops Danny Ainge is looking for something to get "really, really excited" about, Amico writes. Garnett has a no-trade clause, and reportedly will only waive it if he's dealt to Los Angeles and the Celtics also trade Paul Pierce away.
Josh Smith is the most-talked-about name on the rumor mill at present, and Amico reiterates that the Spurs, Nets and Bobcats are among the teams that have interest in the athletic forward. The Nets are anxious to deal Kris Humphries, and could be looking to get a third team involved in talks with Atlanta to faciliate a Smith-Humphries deal. Cavs GM Chris Grant spent time on the phone with Nets GM Billy King last week, and Amico notes the close ties Grant shares with King, as well as the connection between Hawks GM Danny Ferry and King.
Grant wants more draft picks, and is apparently willing to rent some of the Cavs' ample cap space for a player whose deal expires after next season, as Humphries' does.
If they can't land Smith, plan B for the Nets might be Paul Millsap. We heard about Brooklyn's interest in the Jazz power forward earlier today.
Bulls GM Gar Forman also covets Smith and Millsap. Chicago has talked to the Nets about Carlos Boozer, but there's been no recent movement on that front.
Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings are available, but only for a team that makes an overwhelming offer to Bucks GM John Hammond.
The Mavs are publicly downplaying the chances of a trade before the deadline, but that's not the case behind the scenes, where basketball president Donnie Nelson is seeing what he can get for Shawn Marion.
Eric Gordon would love to return to his Indiana roots and the Hornets have interest in Danny Granger, but the Pacers and New Orleans have not discussed a Gordon-Granger swap.

Nets Rumors: Gordon, Josh Smith, Millsap

February 12th, 2013 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

No team was more active last summer than the Nets, who signed two maximum-salary players and traded for a third in the span of a week. So it only seems appropriate that the club would be busy again at the trade deadline. Brooklyn has been linked to multiple possible trade targets this month, including Ben Gordon of the Bobcats and Josh Smith of the Hawks.

However, according to Mitch Lawrence and Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, the Nets aren't overly optimistic about landing Gordon or Smith. The Daily News report indicates that Brooklyn has "cooled" on Gordon, who the club doesn't view as a good fit defensively. Lawrence and Bondy also suggest that the Nets are pessimistic about their odds of landing Smith, since the Hawks are seeking a more attractive package than Brooklyn's, which would include Kris Humphries and MarShon Brooks.

While talks with the Bobcats and Hawks may not be progressing, the Nets are still hoping to land a big man. Brooklyn is focusing on a group of power forwards that includes Paul Millsap, according to the Daily News report. Nearly a month ago, we heard that the Nets might try to make a play for Millsap, though a deal wasn't considered likely.

As trade rumors continue to swirl around the Nets, GM Billy King insists that he likes the current roster, and that a move isn't necessarily in the works. Even though he's in the last year of his contract, King wants to avoid making a desperation move, telling reporters yesterday that he won't shake things up for the sake of it.

"Are we going to make a trade? We may, we may not,'' King said. "I'm not going to make a trade just to make a trade. Do I believe this group can regroup and play well? Yes."

Spears On Spurs, Smith, Maynor, Knicks, Grizzlies

February 12th, 2013 at 11:15am CST by Luke Adams

Not content to simply rank the NBA's teams, one through 30, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports also includes plenty of interesting trade rumors and nuggets within his power rankings. Here are the items of note from Spears in this week's installment:

The Spurs, who used to employ current Hawks GM Danny Ferry, are among the teams interested in Josh Smith.
Eric Maynor has been drawing some interest, and Spears suggests that he could be a fit for the Jazz, the team that initially drafted him.
The Knicks are still trying to decide whether they should wait on injured bigs Marcus Camby and Rasheed Wallace or sign a free agent.
Zach Randolph appears safe in Memphis, but the Grizzlies could still try to make a deal using one or more of their seven trade exceptions.
Spears hears from a source that it's been nearly three weeks since the Raptors and Bulls last discussed a Carlos Boozer/Andrea Bargnani swap.
No Suns player is untouchable via trade.
Talks between the Bobcats and Nets involving Kris Humphries and Ben Gordon remain at a standstill.

Atlantic Rumors: Knicks, Shumpert, Nets, Celtics

February 12th, 2013 at 9:54am CST by Luke Adams

Although the Knicks have slowed down a little since their torrid start to the season, Carmelo Anthony told reporters this weekend that he doesn't think the team should be involved in trade talks, a point he reiterated last night.

"I love this team, I love the chemistry on this team — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it," Anthony said, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. "Right now we’re tops in our division. That was one of our goals. Second in the Eastern Conference, we’ll take that right now. There’s always a lot of talk around the Knicks come trade time. We don’t need that."

Here are a few more notes from around the Atlantic Division:

Glen Grunwald may not end up moving Iman Shumpert, but he's at least exploring some possibilities, says Berman. According to Berman, the Rockets' director of scouting attended Sunday's Knicks/Clippers game, though it's not clear whether he was there to observe more than just Shumpert.
Steve Popper of the Bergen Record and Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com both wonder whether or not Anthony is right about the Knicks not needing to make a deal.
The Nets would like to make a trade in the next nine days, and would be willing to dangle MarShon Brooks and perhaps a first-round pick along with Kris Humphries in the right deal, reports Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. When I examined Humphries' trade candidacy in December, I wrote that he may have to be packaged with Brooks and/or draft picks to draw much interest.
In addition to talking with the Hawks, the Nets have also had exploratory conversations with the Cavaliers, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
Jessica Camerato of CSNNE.com looks at four guards playing at the Celtics' D-League affiliate in Maine, noting that they could be candidates to join Boston's roster in the wake of Leandro Barbosa's injury.
While a D-League call-up is one option for the Celtics, Greg Payne of ESPNBoston.com points out that there are plenty of others. However, Payne expects the team to stand pat until the trade deadline.

Brigham On Humphries, Gordon, Lucas, Oden, Leonard

February 9th, 2013 at 10:02am CST by Sean Highkin

Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld.com has a new column touching on a few trade rumors as well as some other topics from around the NBA on Saturday morning:

Brigham writes that the rumored swap of Kris Humphries for Ben Gordon is a move that makes sense for both the Nets and Bobcats, given the needs each player fills on their roster.
John Lucas enjoys playing for the Raptors, but he misses the Bulls.
Following yesterday's report that the Cavaliers are preparing a multiyear offer for Greg Oden, Brigham writes that they are the frontrunners to land him.
Brigham talks to Trail Blazers rookie center Meyers Leonard about his adjustment to the NBA lifestyle and the difference between the college and pro games.

Nets, Bobcats Discussing Gordon, Humphries

February 8th, 2013 at 5:53pm CST by Luke Adams

5:53pm: The teams have discussed the deal, but it's on the back burner for now, tweets TNT's David Aldridge.

4:01pm: The Gordon/Humphries proposal came from the Bobcats' side, according to Howard Beck of the New York Times (via Twitter), so it's up to the Nets to decide whether to make the deal.

3:29pm: The Nets and Bobcats have engaged in discussions about a deal that would send Ben Gordon to Brooklyn and Kris Humphries to Charlotte, reports ESPN.com's Chris Broussard. According to Broussard, talks between the two teams are ongoing, but nothing is imminent.

The two players match up well from a salary perspective, as Humphries is earning $12MM this season and has one more year on his deal worth $12MM. Gordon, meanwhile, is making $12.4MM in 2012/13 and has a 2013/14 player option worth $13.2MM.

Additionally, neither player appears to be part of his respective team's long-term plan. Gordon was acquired by the Bobcats last summer for salary purposes in a trade with the Pistons that netted Charlotte a first-round pick. Although he's played well for the Bobcats, the team can get plenty of backcourt scoring from Kemba Walker, Ramon Sessions, and Gerald Henderson, and is targeting a frontcourt addition.

Humphries, who was pursued by the Bobcats in free agency last July, eventually re-signed with the Nets. But as I noted in my examination of the big man's trade candidacy, Brooklyn was likely motivated by the fact that it held Humphries' Bird Rights and could potentially use him as a trade chip, rather than by a strong fondness for his on-court contributions. According to Broussard, the Nets are interested in Gordon as a potential floor-spacer that could help improve the club's three-point shooting.

Trade Candidate: Kris Humphries

December 25th, 2012 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

No team spent more lavishly this offseason than the Brooklyn Nets, who committed over $240MM on free agent signings, a figure that doesn't even include the $89MM+ contract the club took on when it acquired Joe Johnson from the Hawks. However, it wasn't as if the Nets were going out and pursuing all the best outside free agents on the market. The team never officially cleared any cap space, instead electing to re-sign its own free agents, such as Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, and Gerald Wallace.

With the Nets well over the cap, it only made sense for the team to bring back another player whose Bird rights it held: Kris Humphries. Having no cap room or exception money remaining after their spending spree, the Nets could only sign minimum-salary deals, which likely wouldn't be enough to lure in another player capable of averaging a double-double, as Humphries did last season. So the team inked Humphries to a two-year contract worth $24MM, ensuring that the big man was around to help Lopez on the glass.

The price to retain Humphries was high, but there was some logic to overpaying — Dwight Howard was still on the trade market at the time, and if D12 had remained available into the regular season, the Nets could have re-entered the mix to acquire him. The more salary the Nets sent out in a hypothetical Howard deal, the more bad contracts they could take on from the Magic (or whichever team held Howard), so paying Humphries $12MM annually rather than $8MM could have actually helped facilitate a deal. Additionally, giving him two years at a higher annual average value, rather than three years, meant avoiding a long-term commitment, and getting the chance to clear him from the books in 2014.

Of course, mere weeks after the Nets re-signed Humphries, the Lakers acquired Howard, and it's unlikely that the All-Star center will be back on the trade market this season. Making matters worse, Humphries hasn't exactly fit in with the new-look Nets, falling out of favor with coach Avery Johnson, and seeing reduced minutes in recent weeks. After averaging nearly 35 minutes per contest last season, the 27-year-old is playing just over 23 per game this year.

According to Howard Beck of the New York Times, the Nets were never particularly enamored of Humphries, and his sudden demotion "practically screams buyer's remorse." There's some reason to believe that injuries have slowed Humphries recently, as a mild abdominal strain kept him out of action today vs. the Celtics and will sideline him tomorrow against the Bucks (Twitter link). Still, the former reality-TV star doesn't appear to be a core piece in Brooklyn, and when we asked earlier this week whether the Nets will try to trade him, approximately 85% of you predicted they would.

Deciding to move Humphries is one thing, but finding a logical deal is quite another. With a $12MM annual salary, nagging injuries, and a fairly one-dimensional game, Humphries may be a decent complimentary piece for a team, but he's hardly a tantalizing trade chip. He would likely have to be packaged with more attractive assets, such as MarShon Brooks or a collection of future draft picks, to draw a whole lot of interest.

Even paired with Brooks or a draft pick, it's hard to envision a perfect match for Humphries and the Nets. Brooklyn certainly has no qualms about taking on big-money contracts, making them a candidate to take on a player like Pau Gasol, who is owed $19MM annually. But Humphries likely isn't the sort of player the Lakers are looking for, and the Nets themselves may prefer to acquire a forward more suited for small-ball, with Wallace seeing major minutes at power forward lately.

Wilson Chandler may be a decent fit for the Nets, but his salary isn't significant enough to match up with Humphries'. Danny Granger is a big name that may be available at the trade deadline, and the Pacers could use backcourt help, but I'm skeptical that Brooks and a couple draft picks would be enough to entice Indiana to part with its top scorer. One name that has re-surfaced recently in connection with the Nets is Ersan Ilyasova, who the team reportedly eyed over the summer. Brooks could interest Milwaukee, if the team expects to lose either Monta Ellis or Brandon Jennings next summer, but the Nets would probably have to take on a bad salary like Drew Gooden's to make any sort of Humphries/Ilyasova swap a realistic possibility.

Even if there's not a perfect match out there for Humphries on the trade market, I expect the Nets to explore their options in earnest once he becomes trade-eligible in January. The team re-signed Humphries in order to retain a solid asset they would've otherwise lost for nothing, but the veteran forward hasn't been a fit in Brooklyn, and it may be time for the team to cut its losses. If a Humphries package can bring back another piece that would be of more use to the Nets, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him on the move on or before February 21st.

Odds & Ends: Humphries, Anderson, Magic, Nets

December 24th, 2012 at 2:29pm CST by Zachary Links

Nets coach Avery Johnson has raised eyebrows around the league for his limited use of forward Kris Humphries, who is earning $12MM this season. However, we've learned today that there might be an explanation for the big man's disappointing play, decreased playing time, and yesterday's benching. Humphries missed today's practice in East Rutherford, New Jersey with an abdominal muscle issue and may require an MRI, writes Mike Gavin of Newsday. Yesterday, 86% of Hoops Rumors readers said that they expect Brooklyn to shop Humphries between now and February, but it's possible that he'll be back in the equation once he's healthy. Here's more from around the league..

Hornets forward Ryan Anderson was caught off guard by the Magic's decision to trade him in July, writes Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida. “Obviously, they were going to go in a different direction that I wasn’t really too much aware of then,’’ said the 24-year-old. “I found out afterward what their plan is. They want to build their nucleus with young talent.’’
Johnson's decision to 86 Humphries from the rotation will come back to haunt him, opines Amit Badlani of Sheridan Hoops. It's a decision that will satisfy Deron Williams in the short-term, but the Nets need Humphries' size in order to win in the playoffs.
Chad Ford and Jay Bilas of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) ran down the top ten players in college basketball. Both analysts have Indiana's Cody Zeller pegged as the top talent in the NCAA.

Poll: Will The Nets Shop Kris Humphries?

December 23rd, 2012 at 8:08pm CST by Zachary Links

After a red-hot start to the season, things have cooled down rather quickly in Brooklyn. The Nets are now 14-12 following today’s ugly win over the Sixers – not quite cause for absolute panic, but it’s certainly not the kind of record the Nets hoped to have after spending major money this summer. The Nets re-upped Deron Williams on a max deal, gave Gerald Wallace $40MM over four years, and inked Brook Lopez to a four-year, $60MM pact. This offseason’s biggest addition – All-Star guard Joe Johnson – is set to earn nearly $90MM through 2015/16. But the player being most scrutinized these days is forward Kris Humphries, who re-signed with the Nets on a two-year, $24MM deal.

Of course, Avery Johnson has taken his fair share of criticism from people in recent weeks (including a certain point guard wearing No. 8), but Humphries might be the biggest scapegoat on the floor. After starting more than 100 games for the Nets over the past two seasons, Humphries saw himself demoted to the bench in the midst of the club’s five-game slide. After getting back in the starting five for back-to-back games, the 27-year-old was left in his warmups this afternoon while Keith Bogans started in a downsized lineup with Reggie Evans and Andray Blatche offering support in the frontcourt.

Johnson says that Hump isn’t in the doghouse, but it’s hard to believe based on the way that he has been phased out of the rotation. Humphries has survived adversity before, from his lack of playing time in Utah, Toronto, and Dallas to the constant heckling that he endured last season thanks to a high-profile split with a certain Page Six mainstay. However, this might be a case where a trade will benefit both the player and the team.