The Atlanta Hawks recently lost five of six games and although they have recovered to win their last two they seem to be headed in the wrong direction. One of the Hawks' biggest problems recently is the lack of depth in the frontcourt. Atlanta plans to try and aid that problem by bringing in Kris Humphries who was just waived by the Phoenix Suns, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Humphries started the year with the Washington Wizards but wasn't in the rotation for the majority of the season. Right before the trade deadline Humphries was part of the deal that brought Markieff Morris to the Wizards. Humphries went to Phoenix and played in just four games before buyout talks began, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
The buyout between Humphries and the Suns comes as somewhat of a surprise because he is someone that could have been useful to them. Yes, the Suns are not making the playoffs this year but Humphries' $4.6 million salary was non-guaranteed for next year so they had plenty of options to be able to keep him around or even use him to swing a trade.
Instead the Suns decided to move on from the 31-year-old forward and once buyout talks were reported the Hawks emerged as the favorites to land him, according to Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops. The Hawks make sense for Humphries because they could really use some frontcourt depth and he should get an opportunity to earn some minutes. The Hawks had a need in the frontcourt once Tiago Splitter decided to have season-ending hip surgery and although Humphries isn't the same type of player as Splitter he is a solid big guy.
Humphries has not played particularly well this season in limited action (shooting 38 percent from the field) but he is someone who can provide scoring and rebounding off the bench. In his 12-year career Humphries has averaged 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and has recently stretched his shooting range to beyond the three point line. This season Humphries is shooting 34 percent from three and should be able to help stretch opposing defenses even more for the Hawks.
