Kris Humphries: A lost season (SEASON GRADE)

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By the numbers: 65 G, 21 GS, 18.3 MPG, 5.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 0.5 APG, 0.2 SPG, 0.5 BPG, .448 FG%, .000 3P%, .789 FT%, .515 TS%, .448 eFG%

Advanced: 13.6 PER, 109 ORtg, 105 DRtg, 16.5 USG%, 12.4 ORB%, 23.9 DRB%, 18.1 TRB%, 4.3 AST%, 0.7 STL%, 2.1 BLK%, 1.3 estimated wins added

At the beginning of the season, I got a shirt designed for myself that said:

“Deron&
Joe&
Gerald&
Kris&
Brook.”

I haven’t worn it since November.

That pretty much sums up Kris Humphries’s season.

Humphries started off the year as the team’s starting power forward, as a bruiser coming off back-to-back seasons in which he averaged a double-double on New Jersey’s terrible teams, and expected to be the fifth option in a starting lineup flush with scoring talent.

But that never really took off for Humphries, who barely averaged 25 minutes per game even as the team’s full-time starter to start the season. In his 18 starts, Humphries amassed just five double-doubles and shot over 50% from the field just six times. His emotion to the bench in favor of Reggie Evans AKA The Joker AKA Uncle Reggie AKA Rebounding Machine Bear did nothing to help his confidence, and Humphries continued to spiral down the road to ineffectiveness. His usability as a backup center vanished. His vertical leap looked stunted.

He could barely dunk. Our highlight reel lists three plays because Humphries barely played enough to have more than three highlights. He went from averaging a double-double in 35 minutes per game to playing less than 10 minutes 11 times. Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo sat him for a full three weeks to give Mirza Teletovic a shot in the rotation.

He ~~became~~ continued to be more famous for his reality show appearances, former marriage, and salary ($12 million per year over two years) than his on-court performance. He was the team’s biggest trade asset because of his contract and former pedigree, not for his performance this season. The boos, which he heard soundly around the country, faded away as the season progressed. He wasn’t even fun for opponents to hate anymore. (Except for in Manhattan.) He went from bottom dog on the top rung to a forgotten man.

WATCH: Kris Humphries’s Top 3 Plays of the 2012-13 season

With the season over, Kris Humphries is no longer Kris Humphries and is now “Kris Humphries’s Expiring Contract.” After being subject to rumors as the trade deadline approached in-season, we’ll assuredly see his name pop up again. His cousin certainly wants him out. With the Nets needing something between improvement and change this offseason, Kalon may get his wish.

You’ll see his grade below, and it’s not good. But it’s not just a reflection of him. It’s a reflection of HIS expectations vs. reality, of how he was used this season, of how much he mattered to this team’s success, and how he performed in his limited opportunities. Considering all that in one fell swoop, this was a lost season for Kris Humphries.

At least he wasn’t Andrew Bynum.

HIGH POINT: In his best start, Humphries scored 14 points and grabbed a season-high 21 rebounds in a victory over the Orlando Magic in November.

LOW POINT: Rotting on the bench for three weeks in March as P.J. Carlesimo tried anything but playing Kris Humphries.

MY FAVORITE MOMENT, PART I: “Why are you so quiet now?”

MY FAVORITE MOMENT, PART II: SKY KIRKLAND!