Isaac Humphries signs contract with Atlanta Hawks, reportedly bound for Erie

The Atlanta Hawks announced today that they have come to terms with Isaac Humphries, a big man out of the University of Kentucky who had played overseas for two teams since going undrafted in 2017. Chris Vivlamore of the AJC reports that Humphries will join the Erie Bayhawks in the G League after preseason ends and Atlanta has to cut down to their final regular season roster.

Humphries replaces Cole Aldrich, who recently departed the team to take a contract in China, as a training camp big man who can provide some depth at the position through the end of preseason. The Hawks have had a few injuries up front and while that hasn’t impacted their ability to field a manageable rotation in games, practices have to have been somewhat limited because of their lack of bigs.

Humphries began his professional career in his hometown of Sydney, Australia with the Sydney Kings, who have been in the United States this month to play a preseason contest with the LA Clippers. He won the NBL’s Rookie of the Year award last season before moving to Serbia to continue his career. This season, he’ll ply his trade in the G League with Erie in the hopes of finding his place in the NBA.

Given the reporting, the Hawks have presumably signed him to a contract containing an Exhibit 10 clause, which can contain a bonus of up to $50,000 and allows the club to retain his G League rights to option him to Erie. It should be noted that Humphries still has the choice whether or not to play with Erie — he can always go to another professional league if he so chooses — but Atlanta likely had a strong idea that he’ll stay with Erie before signing him.