Wolves discussing Corey Brewer trade with Cavs, Rockets

The Minnesota Timerberwolves are reportedly discussing a trade of veteran wing Corey Brewer to either the Cleveland Cavaliers or Houston Rockets.

ESPN’s Marc Stein reported the news on Sunday afternoon. Brewer, 28, is an odd piece on the 2-7 Wolves who are limping to a slow start without the contributions of point guard Ricky Rubio. He is owed $4.7 million this season and has a $4.9 million player option for the 2015-16 season. Stein said both the Rockets and Cavs have trade exceptions large enough to fit Brewer, and might just need to send draft pick(s) back to Minnesota.

No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins — of course, a would-be Cavalier — is the future on the wing for the Timberwolves. Brewer is averaging only 22.9 minutes per game this season, down from 32.2 last year when Minnesota finished 40-42. Although Flip Saunders also acquired Thaddeus Young in the Wiggins trade, they might now be fully accepting rebuild mode with Rubio out and rookie Zach LaVine starting at the point.

Brewer had a natural connection with new Cavs star Kevin Love during their many years together in Minneapolis. They played together from the start of the 2008-09 season until when Brewer was traded in February 2011 in the massive Carmelo Anthony deal. They rejoined forces last season after Brewer signed with Minnesota as a free agent in July 2013.

Most notably, Brewer was a frequent recipient of Love’s trademark full-court entry passes. The results were stunning:

Corey Brewer's stats last season, thanks to Kevin Love:
.662 eFG% in transition on 5.4 FGA/36.
.438 eFG% in non-transition on 6.2 FGA/36.

— Jacob L. Rosen (@JacobLRosen) August 1, 2014

Minnesota has 102.29 pace and 109.7 ORtg with Brewer-Love in 2,307 minutes. Both marks would've ranked 1st in NBA.

— Jacob L. Rosen (@JacobLRosen) August 1, 2014

Houston, shining so far with an 8-1 record in the crowded Western Conference, is the most frequent three-point shooting team in the NBA. They’re attempting 42 percent of their field goal attempts from three-point range. That’s down from their ridiculous early pace, but still would easily set an NBA record.

Daryl Morey’s squad swapped Chandler Parsons for Trevor Ariza this offseason and also traded away Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin in a quest for additional cap space. They’re relying heavily on several untested rotation players, such as Kostas Papanikolaou, Isaiah Canaan and Tarik Black. Brewer would help to shore up this bench and add more defensive intensity.

Keep an eye on this. Brewer’s defense and athleticism on the wing would be much-needed additions for the Cavaliers. Shawn Marion, a natural forward, is the de facto starting shooting guard right now. Joe Harris has shined off the bench in the past few games, but the Cavs could certainly use a low-usage offensive role player to step in and help defensively with LeBron James. The long-time connection with Love is tantalizing. This almost makes too much sense to be true.