*Partially inspired by this post at The Dream Shake.

With the NBA All-Star Game around the corner, I was wondering how Kris Humphries's play this season compared to forwards in the East that weren't voted in by the fans and if it was worthy enough of All-Star consideration.

Now before I begin, I'd like to make a point about using a team's W-L record in determining what players should make the All-Star Game. I think it's a silly exercise and doesn't give you much insight into how the player has performed. With that out the way, here we go.

Now when we think of an All-Star, we think of someone who performs very well at their position. First, we have to see what the average performance at the forward position is and how Kris compares to that:

So offensively, we see that Kris doesn't take many shots or handle the ball very often, but when he does shoot, he shoots at an above average rate while limiting his turnovers. But as we know, Hump isn't known for his scoring expertise. He's more known as a rebounding machine as Table 2 illustrates in all its boringy glory:

Hump has been one of the best rebounders in the league. He ranks #10 overall in rebounds per game and is 4th in rebound rate of forwards who play at least 25 minutes per game.

We see that Humphries grades out well using traditional measures, so let's see how it looks using newer, advanced statistical  measures. The two measures I'll be using are John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating(defintion and guide to calculating here) and Dr. David Berri's Wins Produced(FAQ and guide to calculating here)

Once again, we see the Hump's performance grades out really well. And as it turns out, he's been one of the most productive players in the league.

So by all measures, Kris Humphries's play has been really good. The next step in determining whether or not he's an All-Star is to compare his play to that of his peers. Since LeBron James and Amar'e Stoudamire were selected by the fans, I won't be including them in this exercise. The players I will be using are:

Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics

Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks

Danny Granger of the Indiana Pacers

Gerald Wallace of the Charlotte Bobcats

Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers

Josh Smith of the Hawks

Carlos Boozer of the Chicago Bulls

Elton Brand of the 76ers

Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat

Kevin Garnett of the Celtics

A couple of thoughts about some of the players listed:

1. Kris Humphries has been really good this season.
2. Even at his "advanced" age, Kevin Garnett has still been one of the best big men in the league.
3. Even with the sexy points per game, Danny Granger hasn't performed all that well and the Nets should avoid him if the Pacers put him on the trading block.
4. And that Joe Johnson contract is still ROFL-worthy.

In conclusion, we see that Kris Humphries has been the best thing about New Jersey Nets basketball this season and that his play compares favorably to some of the big names in the Eastern Conference. Will his performance be enough to earn a spot on the All-Star team? Who knows. But if he was chosen, it would be well-deserved.

*Statistics cited are from Hoopdata and Nerd Numbers.