Stops him from getting drafted I reckon.

Poor kid, has some serious size, athleticism an raw potential, best of luck on the recovery

Man that really bloody sucks, really feel for the kid.

Humphries time to shine I guess.

Gutted for him. Hopefully he bounces back and can still make the league

:(

That sucks

Terrible news for him. He'll probably stay here and rehab on the NBL'S dime this season but after that I would like to see United offer him a contract for 23-24, he may decide to go back home to Germany regardless but it would be a nice gesture and give him the chance to get his draft stock back up for 2024.

Well done to the posters above, it would be so easy to talk about Melbourne United's woes but instead we have done the right thing and focused on the young man that I think we would all like to see succeed.

I agree with Zodiac and I hope that the big fella does get all the support he can here and is given the chance to flourish here before making his big pay day

Devastating for him, given he was on the verge of being drafted

But as White and DJ have shown recently, there's hope for a strong recovery

Sad news. I was looking forward to seeing his progression this season he's def one of my favorites to watch in the NBL. Hope to see him back better than ever next season.

Terrible luck for Hukporti, wishing him a speedy recovery, I'm sure he will bounce back even stronger. The example he can certainly use is Jack White and how he has taken his game to the next level despite such a terrible injury.

Turning to United, what options do they have in term of replacements? The plan for Humphries would I imagine have been to have him on minute restrictions while he returned from serious injury, you would imagine this may be fast tracked slightly but they’re going to need some serious backup.

Who’s out there? Who’s the best Australian big playing NBL1 who can step up for 15-20 mins a game? A recently retired big such as AJ Ogilvy or Cam Bairstow, are they playing?

The other option (pending contract situations) is to cut Caroline and replace with a genuine centre. Start Peatling (which is what they did when White was injured).
Looks more balanced with this option, however squad very thin for mine without Hukporti.

Import / Humphries
Peatling / Barlow
Tucker / Newley / Okwera
Goulding / Triplett
Ili / XRM

*Can't replace a Next Star according to Pete Hooley. So that leaves option 2 as the only viable change or leave the roster as is and the Caroline 6,6" plays backup centre.

I assume you could replace a Next Star with another Next Star, but because they don't occupy a roster spot their roster is still full even with the injury.

A front line of Humphries and Jawai has disaster written all over it but i dont want to see the big fella out of the league so any chance they see if they can get him somehow

Can't see Bairstow being an option, mentally has probably conceded his body can't hold up and moved on. And another injury would leave United in the same spot.
Ogilvy could be a consideration if he thinks he might have a little gas in the tank for a team that would contend more than Hawks would have.

The limited pool of Next Star options would be signed at this point. A particularly disastrous injury.

Okwera has shown good signs in pre season. If Caroline struggles, fair chance they upgrade him to a 4/5 and rely on Okwera, Peatling and Barlow to pick up extra minutes.

If Caroline's doing alright, and Humphries stays healthy, they'll roll the dice with Humphries as the only genuine 5.

Its not that outlandish. Humphries knee is a risk,

But Tigers won a title in 2006 with 41 year old DMac as the only PG in the rotation (other than Braith Cox who mostly sat on end of bench) and United did likewise in 2018 with Casper and Pete Hooley. (Who actually played a great cameo in the 2nd half of game 1 of the GF series)

Humphries looked good vs Brisbane. Agility and floor running were excellent. Okwera is certainly showing something has great length and athleticism but would need to improve his strength to play more at the 5. Likely they will roll the dice with the Humphries / Caroline front court, with support from Barlow/Peatling, then some small ball lineups. Lots of risk over a season though as Barlow will inevitably slow down. Couple of early fouls for Humphries vs a big like Baynes could present some real issues. Interesting to see how Vickerman tackles this..