2017-18 Oklahoma City Thunder player grades: Corey Brewer

Full Name: Corey Wayne Brewer

Nickname: “The Drunken Dribbler,” “Greyhound”

Years in NBA: 11 years

Contract Status: Unrestricted Free Agent

Notable Factoid:

Brewer has never averaged over 13 pt/gm in any season of his career, but on one magical April night in 2014, Corey rocked the Houston Rockets for 51 points. It’s difficult to fathom, after perusing his career numbers, that in a search of players that have recorded a 50+ point game in their career that you would discover Corey Brewer’s name.

Player History:

After back-to-back championship seasons at the University of Florida, Brewer was the #7 pick in the 2007 NBA Rookie Draft. During his time with the Gators, Brewer recorded the teams first ever triple-double. He, along with fellow 2004 recruiting class teammates, Joakim Noah and Al Horford, made an immediate impact and led Florida to its first three conference championships (2005, 2006, 2007), as well as the schools only 2 national basketball titles (2006, 2007).

After spending his first 6 seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team that drafted him in 2007, Brewer has spent the rest of his career bouncing from one team to the next before finally signing with the Thunder on March 3rd after being waived by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Pre-season Expectations:

N/A

Regular Season Grade: C

After joining the Thunder, Brewer provided an offensive and defensive spark that ignited a 6 game Thunder winning streak and earned him the starting SG spot vacated after Andre Roberson season-ending knee injury. However, Brewer’s slight 6-9 and 186 lb build coupled with aging 32-year-old legs, left many Thunder fans wondering if the team would have been better served, both in the short and long-term, developing Josh Huestis’ defensive prowess or Alex Abrines’ deadly 3-point shot in that starting role as Brewer’s numbers and impact waned as the season progressed.

Post Season Grade: C

In a disastrous 1st round playoff exit, Brewer posted the second highest BPM among the Thunder’s regular rotation player (2.6) and best DBPM (2.7), numbers that topped Houston’s P.J. Tucker. Unfortunately, Brewer had little offensive impact in the Thunder’s playoff loss to the Utah Jazz, scoring only 6.2 pt/gm, almost 5 ¹⁄₂ points less than the offensively challenged Andre Roberson averaged in the 2016/17 first round playoff loss to the Rockets.

Most Memorable Game/Moment:

March 16, 2018

Brewer produced double-digit scoring in seven of his first nine games with the Thunder, including this 22 pt, 6 steal gem against the Los Angeles Clippers:

Sadly, after that outstanding 9 game debut, Brewer posted double-digits only 4 times in OKC’s final 9 regular season games and only once in their 6-game first round playoff loss to the Jazz.

Future Expectations:

Basically zero. With the cash limitations the Thunder face this off-season along with the rise of Terrance Ferguson and the return of Andre Roberson, Brewer will likely find himself as a man without a team very shortly.

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Player Grades Explained:

C: Met expectations

Thunder fans were a mixed bag about their feelings about Brewer. Some liked him, some did not. Personally, I preferred taking a chance on an aging Tony Allen’s defensive chops over Brewer to replace Roberson in the starting rotation, but Brewer did usher in one of the few bright spots of the 2017/18 season before tailing off.

Based on the grading criteria, Brewer “met expectations” maybe a tad more, but no less.