From Humphries to Millsap

Power forward Paul Millsap’s 19-point, 15-rebound double-double against New Jersey on Wednesday came on a night during which he was matched for much of the game with Kris Humphries.
Jazz fans have Humphries, at least in part, to credit – or his struggles as an NBA rookie and sophomore, as the case may be – for Millsap’s presence in Utah.
Humphries – who had 15 rebounds as well on Wednesday – was the Jazz’s first-round selection, a lottery pick at No. 14 overall, in the 2004 NBA Draft. He left the University of Minnesota after one stat-packed season, but apparently wasn’t ready to thrive as a youngster in coach Jerry Sloan’s team oriented system.
Humphries wound up lasting two years in Utah, playing 67 games as a rookie 62 in his second season – but never really winning Sloan’s favor. He left the Jazz with a 3.6 points-per-game scoring average, and has bounced around the league since, making stops in Toronto, Dallas and now New Jersey, where lately he’s been starting in place of the benched Troy Murphy.
The Jazz wound up trading Humphries to Toronto early in June of 2006, in a deal that brought former BYU big man Rafael Araujo back to Utah for a one-season, 28-game stint with Sloan’s club.
That deal left Utah with a hole behind then-starter Carlos Boozer at the 4 spot, and – just a few weeks later – it helped prompt the Jazz to steal Millsap out of Louisiana Tech at No. 47 overall in the second round of the ’06 draft.
(That happened after, by the way, they also took Ronnie Brewer in the first round and Dee Brown earlier in the second).
Now Millsap, a noticeable snub on the 2011 NBA All-Star Game ballot officially released today, is averaging 21.5 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds as the Jazz’s starting power forward. And the Jazz have a lottery pick who couldn’t quite live up to his high billing to thank for their good fortune.

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