NBA Rumors: Kris Humphries and Nets Smart to Work on 1-Year Deal

Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the New Jersey Nets are expected to lock up Kris Humphries to a one-year deal by the end of today.

If they do so, he will be available for their final preseason game tomorrow night against the New York Knicks Knicks.

R. Iannaccone of Sportando.net broke the news earlier that the two parties were working on a one-year deal worth between $7 and $9 million dollars for Humphries to stay with the Nets. 

The Nets have made the smart call to try and re-sign the best big man left on the market for just the 2011-12 campaign. He had the best season of his career last year, which happened to coincide with his expiring contract. The power forward averaged a double-double, putting up 10.0 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 assists per game, while shooting a solid 52.7 percent from the floor.

New Jersey would be receiving great value for the 6’9”, 235-pound PF, considering his price tag is the exact same or just a shade more than the Golden State Warriors are renting Kwame Brown at this season. Brown is a poor player and a barely serviceable big body to throw on the court for a few cheap fouls and defense, while Humphries is one of the league’s premier rebounders.

Humphries' personal life and marriage was chronicled on reality television with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian over the past year. Some pundits, like Grantland’s Bill Simmons, jokingly observed that his televised performances might be the reason why it is taking so long for him to catch on with an NBA team this offseason. 

Regardless of the reason as to why it's taking the Nets forever to lock him up, they can certainly be glad that he's working with them to get it done. He's one of the few productive free agents still left on the market, and it would be wise to get him in a second straight contract year.

Expect Humphries to lay it all out on the court again this year and prove himself worthy of long-term, big-money deal if he joins the Nets again.