Over the last week, it has been reported that the Nets have been in talks with the Bobcats to trade Kris Humphries for swingman Ben Gordon.  Although trade talks have not been imminent, the Nets could be looking to make a splash before the trade deadline that is now only a week and a half away.

It’s shocking that the Nets would look to deal Humphries just one year removed from his career year and signing a two year $24 million contract.  Maybe it’s because that Humphries has been disappointing this year and they are looking for a perimeter scorer?

Or, could the Nets be listening to rapper Kanye West when he implied in a song that he would have “Jay drop him (Humphries) from the team?”  Let’s hope they’re not taking biased advice from a rapper on how to run their franchise.

Undeniably, Humphries is not having a season like he had last year.  Entering Sunday’s game with the Spurs, he was only averaging 5.9 points and 6.4 rebounds, both about half of what he produced last year.  Over his last five games, he has only averaged 1.4 points while his minutes have dropped to 9.0 per game.

This is not the production that they were expecting from Humphries when they signed him this off-season, but he is a big man that possesses talent.  Most people know him from his sham marriage to reality TV star Kim Kardashian (which is why Mr. West decided to shout him out in a song) and a lot of that overshadows his ability.

He has been deemed expendable to the Nets because his role has become very similar to that of journeyman forward Reggie Evans.  Evans was brought in to be a guy off the bench that could bring some grit defensively and pull down some rebounds.

Ben Gordon (right, 8) could help the Nets and their offensive woes but the team must be careful before trading Kris Humphries. PHOTO COURTESY: SAM SHARPE/USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES

Evans has not disappointed in that department.  The only complaint that can be made about him is the fact that he fueled a recent Heat beat down of the Nets by calling their championship last year a fraud.

But getting back to the Humphries trade; it is a trade that I don’t think the Nets should make.  Understandably, the Nets are trying to improve their 3-point shooting which is ranked 21^st as of Sunday.

And if they decided to do that in a trade, Gordon would be a good candidate to help out their offense.  Through Sunday he was shooting at a 41 percent clip from behind the arch.  He would also add an experienced scorer to the Nets bench.

Financially, the trade makes perfect sense with both men making $12 million this year.

However, if you look closely at Brooklyn’s bench, they are already deep in their back-court.  Their front-court is a different story.  Besides Humphries, the Nets only have Evans, Brook Lopez, Andray Blatche and Mirza Teletovic.

If they trade Humphries, they are now just one injury away from a three man rotation for their center and power forward positions.  A championship team cannot win with that lack of depth in the front-court.

That being said, the Nets do need to improve their 3-point shooting.   They have options already on their bench with guards such as MarShon Brooks or C.J. Watson that certainly could warrant consideration.  Albeit risky, it would be their best chance to not lose any depth from their big men and possibly cure their offensive woes.

Like I said at the beginning, the Nets could be looking to shake things up as they have been wildly inconsistent this year.  Adding a scorer like Gordon is never a “bad” thing but they shouldn’t trade away Humphries despite the disappointing season.  Because of the depth issues that would arise from trading him away, Humphries is actually very valuable to the Nets.  Whether fans like him or not, they should expect Humphries to stick around at least until next year.

Sorry Kanye, your wish for Humphries to be dropped from your buddy Jay-Z’s team isn’t going to happen just yet.   Or at least it shouldn’t.

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