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.