Washington Wizards: Grading The Starting Five

4. Humph for 3?

Kris Humphries had to reconstruct his entire game after Randy Wittman made it clear that they would play more of a pace-and-space type of offensive system. He went from a guy who could come off the bench to provide rebounding and garbage buckets (and sometimes the occasional 15-footer) to a player that has evolved into a pick-and-pop somewhat consistent three-point shooter in the span of a few months. All summer long, Humphries practiced on extending his range so he could be a viable option for Wittman to throw in here and there as a stretch four.

After training camp was all said and done, Humphries ended up winning the starting position. The newly acquired Jared Dudley had still been recovering from back surgery he underwent in July and had been limited throughout training camp and preseason. Humphries has shown that his hard work isn’t to be overlooked.

Prior to this season, the most three-point attempts he averaged in his 11 seasons was 0.1 in 2004, 2005, and 2014. This season that number has increased to 3.4 per game with a 41.2 percent success rate. That is incredible considering he was a guy who never even thought about hoisting up three’s before.

Although is offensive game has been impressive, Humphries has struggled defensively. On the year, opponents are shooting 47.1% against him. With more and more teams playing smaller, Humphries has the duty of guarding a lot of more athletic fours that can take advantage of his less than average lateral movement.

His minutes are down slightly from last season when he was coming off the bench, but you would still like to see him grab more than 4.8 rebounds per game. He is one of the more physically strong players on the roster, so they are going to depend on him down the stretch in games to secure the glass.

Grade= B

Next: 5. The Polish Machine