Kris Humphries: New Jersey Nets Power Forward Should Be Insulted by KG Rumors

Kris Humphries is quietly having another solid season for the New Jersey Nets, so it comes as a surprise to see the Nets already exploring their options to replace Humphries at the same position next year.

In a report from Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, New Jersey is already planning on using their money to go after either Kevin Garnett or Ersan Ilyasova during the upcoming offseason.

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According to multiple sources, the Nets—who will have roughly $8 million to work with this summer after renouncing the rights to Kris Humphries—are targeting power forwards Kevin Garnett (restricted) and Ersan Ilyasova (unrestricted) in free agency.

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The Nets will try to upgrade after this season, but what if the players that are out there aren't any better than the ones they already have?

Humphries, by comparison, has equal if not better numbers than the two potential offseason targets of the Nets.

Ersan Ilyasova: 12.3 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 0.7 BPG

Kevin Garnett: 15.4 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.1 BPG

Kris Humphries: 13.3 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 1.3 BPG

If the Nets are looking for the alternative to a scoring center like Brook Lopez, Humphries would be the best fit. The former Mr. Kardashian is a better rebounder than his two possible replacements while having scored slightly less per game.

But that's not what New Jersey needs out of their power forward. They need a rebounder and there's no question Humphries is top five in the entire league in that category.

While Ilyasova has shown some brilliant abilities during this season with the Milwaukee Bucks, there is certainly no guarantee that the 24-year-old will work out in Brooklyn better than Humph would.

Not to mention, the Bucks traded Andrew Bogut to make room for Ilyasova, so I'm sure they're motivated to re-sign him and will have an advantage being the only team Ersan has ever known.

While Garnett's overall career will always be light years better than Humphries', he is now 36 and won't be the same player he was even three years ago. KG is on borrowed time physically and the risk is not worth the reward in this case.

Humphries has improved his scoring and rebounding in each of his first three seasons with the Nets. Humph could very well be a 15 and 11 power forward next season and I'm sure New Jersey would sign up for that type of production next to Lopez.

He'll be 28 next February so breakdown won't be a concern, which makes Humphries a long-term solution in the paint.

It remains to be seen if the Nets organization would rather a big splash than the safety of a consistent player like Humphries who has done nothing but get it done on the floor for his team.

The Nets better be careful because if all else fails and they can't make the big splash that their new market wants, an insulted Kris Humphries might not wait around for a team that doesn't appreciate him.

@michaelmoraitis