Addition Of Kris Humphries Paying Dividends For Hawks
While the signing of Kris Humphries was nothing spectacular, his addition to the Atlanta Hawks has given the team something they sorely lacked for most of the season: a physical big man with rebounding ability.
Since his debut with the Atlanta Hawks, Kris Humphries has made an excellent impact for the Hawks, who before his signing were one of the worst rebounding teams in the association, ranking 28th in the league in that particular category.
Atlanta’s undersized frontcourt has its advantages when it comes to spacing the floor and running in transition; but the Hawks did not have a big they could rely on to bang with opponents that had a size advantage, and to secure important boards.
While his size and physicality are all beneficial for the Atlanta Hawks in their quest to return to the Eastern Conference Finals, perhaps the biggest advantage that Humphries brings to the table is his under-appreciated jump shot.
Throughout his 11-year career at the NBA level, Humphries has shown that he is capable of hitting mid-range jumpers; but with the Hawks, that part of his skill-set fits seemlessly into Atlanta’s offensive schemes.
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Al Horford and Paul Millsap are bigs that have developed their jump shooting ability over the past few seasons — especially beyond the arc. Mike Budenholzer likes his frontcourt to space the floor, bring out his opponents bigs for his guards to attack the basket.
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While Humphries can bang down low, he can also space the floor, just like Horford and Millsap: meaning that the Hawks do not have to alter their offense when he is on the court.
The Atlanta Hawks acquired Tiago Splitter during the offseason in order to give themselves a legitimate center to assist in their rebounding efforts. Splitter was hampered by a nagging hip injury all season, limiting his effectiveness in the 36 games he played before electing to undergo season-ending surgery on Feb. 25.
There was concern among the fan-base that the Hawks may not secure a serviceable big man in the free-agent market in time for the postseason, drastically diminishing the team’s chance to go on a playoff run. With the addition of Humphries, the worry that existed two weeks ago has been alleviated.
Since he joined the Hawks, Humphries is averaging 7.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per contest. These numbers are nothing spectacular; but if one looks beyond the box score, it’s clear that Humphries has made the Hawks and their personnel better over the past six games.
The Atlanta Hawks are 5-1 since adding Humphries, with victories over playoff teams such as the Los Angeles Clippers, the Utah Jazz, the Memphis Grizzlies and the Indiana Pacers. While it’s difficult to truly quantify Humphries’s impact by just glossing over the Hawks recent record, it is clear that his presence has given Atlanta an edge that they sorely lacked.
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Though Humphries still must learn the nuances of Mike Budenholzer’s offense (six games is too short of a period to fully grasp a system), he has shown over the past couple of weeks that he fits into what the Hawks do as a team, and will continue to play a vital role for the club down the stretch.