When the Lakers traded Lou Williams for Corey Brewer and a 1st round pick, my thoughts were mostly centered on the quality of the draft pick and the ramifications of no longer having Lou on the roster. Those things, to me at least, were the key parts of the trade since the pick is the main asset and the redistribution of Lou’s usage to younger players offer the most long term meaning to a rebuilding roster.
My analysis on Brewer, then, naturally was lower on the list of things which actually mattered. Here is what I wrote:
I am not too keen on Corey Brewer being part of this deal. I would have preferred the Lakers push for KJ McDaniels, a younger, more rangy athlete who still has some upside. Brewer is a fine veteran who has been on some good teams and can be another voice in the locker room. He can also contribute as a try-hard defender and an open court player who will fill the lane well. But, overall, as someone who is signed through next season at a higher cap number than Williams and someone who has suspect offensive decision making, I would have just preferred the team chase a younger player as the “throw-in” to make the deal work.
I stand by that, but I also think the Brewer aspect of the deal deserves more than a single paragraph. I don’t know what role Brewer will play on the court — and there will be some analysts who say it should be “none” — but I am interested in seeing whether Luke decides to give him some spot/situational minutes to see what he has in Brewer.
First, let’s get this out of the way: Brewer is having his worst year as a professional. The 10 year veteran is playing the fewest minutes, scoring the fewest points, and shooting his worst percentage from the floor for his career this season. Never a good three point shooter, his 23.4% from distance is his lowest mark since his rookie season, but the rate at which he’s been chucking 3’s is the highest of his career. I think a large part of that is Houston’s offense and the shots they value, but I think it also speaks to his inability to get to the rim for shots like he did earlier in his career.
Based on these things alone, you can understand why the Rockets were more than willing to give him up. They want to play a certain way and Brewer’s skill set and ability to produce efficiently in that style made it so he probably shouldn’t be on the floor for them.
That said, there are really two sides to this and I think this tweet from Calvin Watkins sums them up nicely:
Brewer brought the intangibles MDA liked but his shot disappeared too much. In big series vs GSW and Spurs u need buckets.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) February 22, 2017
We covered his shooting, but one of the reasons Brewer has lasted in this league as long as he has is because of those intangibles Watkins says D’Antoni really did like. Brewer plays hard defensively, will chase every loose ball, and, in general, will play like his hair is on fire. He is a “constant motion” type of player and while that comes with its downsides — gambling in the passing lanes, leaking out too often, etc — that energy can be useful when it’s harnessed in a productive way.
I do love the way Brewer runs the floor, the way he can pressure passing lanes, and the way he won’t back down in any situation. He can get you layups in the open court (he’s shooting 54% from 2 point range for a reason) and his 1.5 steals per/36 minutes is right below Jordan Clarkson. He is a hustle player who knows some veteran tricks and he’s already gone on record saying he’d love to pass some of those along to the team’s young guys — specifically citing Brandon Ingram.
Additionally, some of the things he still does well are things the Lakers actually don’t have a lot of right now. Most of their wings run to the 3-point line in transition and don’t fill the lanes as hard as Brewer does. Their best cutters are probably D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram — who also happen to be the guys who have the ball a lot as initiators when they’re in the game — but Brewer can do good work off the ball as a slasher (something he wasn’t asked to do a lot in Houston in order to keep the lane open).
I don’t say all this to hype up Corey Brewer. If the Lakers left him out of the rotation entirely and went to a 9-man group now that Lou is gone that would be the perfectly reasonable approach. Brewer doesn’t need to play and, based on the metrics, a strong argument can be made that he shouldn’t. Much like the addition of Tyler Ennis, I think Brewer might actually do his best work in practice, offering some aggressive defense against the young guys on the floor (and, unlike the young Ennis, some mentoring off it).
For the “throw-in” part of the deal, I am perfectly okay with that.
Vasheed says
This trade hits the major points, acquire a 1st rounder, make the team worse this year, and free up playing time.
Still with the number of teams interested in Lou’s services it seems hard to believe we got a really late 1st rounder and had to take a relatively poor contract that lasts another year. My expectations were somewhat higher..
Busboys4me says
I really would love to light into all of you “trade Lou” proponents right now because I knew we would not get the appropriate value for him and low and behold we didn’t. Even our new FO blew it. We needed Washington’s first round pick and a player or any other player (read younger and more upside) than BREWER!! Oh BTW, LOU scored 27 in his Houston debut.
Vasheed says
Busboys4me
The Wizards offloaded Nicholson’s 4 year contract onto the Nets. So we get an idea of what they were offering for a slightly better pick. I’m more interested in what Utah put on the table. They had cap space to absorb Lou making swapping players more flexible and they had Golden State’s 1st round pick and their own. So would drafting 2 or 3 spots later, clearing 7 million in cap and or acquiring one of Utah’s under utilized guys like say Exum had been a better package?
new rr says
Vasheed
Lowe pointed out that Williams has always had a lot of trouble in post-season. LW’s lifetime postseason PER is 12.6, which, even accounting for tougher competition, is a huge dropoff. So, I expect that may have impacted his trade value.
I think the return is fine. They traded contracts for a pick. It is not ideal–I would give it a B–but it is not bad. I also like exchanging Huertas for a young end-of-bench PG.
Vasheed says
new rr Vasheed
Draft pick wise I think we got about in the range of what was being offered. As I pointed out in my reply to Busboy4me, I think we could have done worse if as I suspect Washington offered Nicholson. Still I think the Lakers could have avoided bringing back Brewer for not much difference in return a late 1st round pick. I’d give this trade a C. It got the job done but, that’s about it.
I think Ennis for Huertas is fine. I even like the little draft rights attached. A small deal but actually a well crafted one. I’d give this a B+.
Darius Soriano says
Vasheed new rr I’m not sure the Lakers make a deal w/ Houston if Brewer is not involved. I say that b/c Houston then basically did salary dumps of KJ McDaniels and Ennis to open up cap space and roster spots for buyout options. In other words, I think it’s entirely plausible the Lakers got the best 1st rounder available while also taking minimal salary/length back.
Regarding your point earlier about the Jazz, I too wonder what they were offering. There’s literally no reporting on that so all we have is speculation. Considering Exum is a Pelinka client, I would bet the Lakers would have snatched up any deal which included him even if a pick was not involved — which leads me to believe he was not offered. As for your earlier comment about salary savings by simply dropping Lou into their cap space, I also have my doubts the Jazz would have been interested in that considering Hayward’s FA status and Gobert’s extension kicking in next season. The Jazz aren’t strapped for cash now, but they will be in the next season or two which is why I heard they were also exploring Favors trade scenarios.
FredP says
Brewer may be better able to fill the role Deng is being paid for. He still can defend SFs and his 2 pt shooting is much better than Deng’s. Deng is not a good 3 point shooter (although Brewer is much worse) and is not a threat to drive to the basket. Brewer is strong in transition defense so he has the chance to knock Deng out of the rotation.
Vasheed says
Darius Soriano Vasheed new rr
I think Brewer, McDaniels and Ennis were all salary dumps. In your article you even discuss the possibility he might be used as a practice jersey. I think Brewer is mostly just a salary match as those other guys wiould have taken more parts and likely left Brewer a Rocket.
I do accept there is no absolute knowing of events. It looks pretty evident that the market was offering a late 1st rounder for Lou. The Jazz are interesting in that they had flexibility in what they could offer. Hayward’s impending free agency is a double edge sword. There is on one side the need to pay him. On the other is the need to show you are trying to win in order to re-sign him. The Jazz cap space meant they could trade virtually anyone for Lou they wanted. Exum I useed as an example though because he isn’t used that much. He would be replaced by Lou. And there would be enough of an offset in salaries that would not stress the Jazz much the following year.. This was my thought process on this.
This all begs the question if Brewer is an important part of the package how does he fit? Practice jersey as an outcome just wouldn’t be very convincing to me.
Busboys4me says
I agree but if we had received at least K.J. McDaniels this trade would not have been bad. A younger, less costly player with some upside. This trade was horrendous in my opinion. This just strengthened an already strong Houston team, actually added to our salary cap on a lesser player, and does nothing but improve our practice squad because Brewer is a flat out energy guy.
Vasheed says
Busboys4me
McDaniels would have been a better piece but would have taken another piece to match salaries. The Rockets basically sold him to the Nets, got about 700k back in cap space trading ofr Lou and will pocket another million or so from waiving Huertas getting them just under cap to get someone later. The Rockets grand plan called for trading Brewer to the Lakers.
Busboys4me says
@Vasheed
“The Rockets grand plan called for trading Brewer to the Lakers.”
WE had the most valuable asset, it should have been OUR Grand Plan, not THEIRS. Houston was by far and away the winner in this deal. If we turn around and use the pick to package with someone else to get a desired player I will then feel differently. But as of now, I miss Lou.
jlawsonswi says
Busboys4me If losing Lou means we lose more games and keep our pick this year and turning the Orlando pick into 2 second round picks, then we’ve really won this trade. This trade was about getting worse while getting a pick. It was all about getting the pick. The Lakers are kicking the can down to 2018 right now for when Paul George and Demarcus Cousins become free agents. So what happens now and next year in terms of money doesn’t matter, so long as we have our cap space at the end of next season for that free agent period. We won’t have a 1st round pick that year if we keep our pick this year, it’ll go to Philly. Our second round this year and next year if we keep our first rounder goes to Orlando.
Still R says
jlawsonswi Busboys4me how do you figure history tells us the Lakers probably pick #1 this year?
If we assume the process isn’t rigged, then the odds are what they are; the ping pong balls don’t “know” what has happened in past years.
mattal says
jlawsonswi Busboys4me
Jim and Mitch’s parting gift is that we won’t have enough cap space for both George and Cousins during the summer of 2018. Our former FO duo had prioritized putting together the most expensive bench in the history of the NBA (Mozgov/Deng) versus targeting free agents that can actually play.
Yes, I’m feeling snarky today.
A Horse With No Name says
The value the lakers got for Lou is consistent with other deadline deals (see Wizards/Nets). I like the positives that Darius outlines about Brewer, but I’m not too concerned either way. If his one year remaining is an impediment to a bigger signing, he will be bought out. The prize here is the 1st rounder. The lakers have shown the ability to get good to great value with later picks. Past success doesn’t guarantee future success, but having the opportunity to do so makes the move worthwhile, and frankly, necessary.
MT87 says
This trade seems like a no-brainer to me. Perhaps the FO could have gotten more value, but as we have seen holding off for a home-run deal comes with the very real risk of being left without a viable trade partner at the deadline. We could have ended up with Washington’s higher pick and a bad contract, but we also could have ended up looking like the Suns with only a couple second round picks to show for our efforts. No rational GM was ever going to offer a lotto pick for Lou and the draft is fluky enough that the difference between a low 20’s pick and a high 20’s pick just isn’t that significant. Now we get to see if our drafting acumen continues under the new regime.
MT87 says
mattal Well, if Jeanie made the right hires the FO will find a way to be successful despite those deals. This is assuming that George and Cousins actually want to come here in 2018 and weren’t simply using the Lakers as a boogeyman to scare of trade suitors so that they could get their gigantic paydays in 2018.
_Craig W says
MT87 From what Magic said, we had a deal in place with Utah, but Mitch was holding out for something better. However, when Magic inquired about it, Utah backed down – perhaps they would have regardless. Then Magic immediately went to Houston’s deal and made it on Monday – before Houston ‘dumped’ their other salaries.
This would seem to reinforce MT87’s point. Yeah, McDaniels might have been a better talent, but a team is also about synergy and the Lakers (Magic, Ryan, Jesse, Luke) may have felt the fit was better with Brewer and their path forward was more straight forward. Also, that may have been the point at which Houston wouldn’t budge – after all they were going to dump some more salary and they might not have been able to do it with Brewer.
Vasheed says
_Craig W MT87
Now that’s an interesting story. Link?
_Craig W says
Vasheed _Craig W MT87 If you are talking about Magic’s comments about the trade, then I first heard them on 710am in L.A. and then in browsing around the Laker stories around the web.
Vasheed says
_Craig W Vasheed MT87
Not seeing anything about this. Hopefully will over the weekend.
Still R says
mattal I hear what you are saying but if the former brain trust made sure the Lakers can’t sign Cousins, that might be a good thing.
Cousins is a head case, an extremely immature individual who seems to have created or at least contributed to a lot of problems in Sacramento. Who knows, though, maybe all he needed was a change of scenery, and he will flourish in NO. I doubt it but am perfectly used to being wrong about this stuff.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out for him in NO.
Still R says
I’m not at all convinced the difference between Brewer and whoever the Lakers might have realistically gotten is at all significant.
Yes indeed the Lakers are talent impoverished (sorry, “young core” lovers), and every little bit helps, but the Lakers will need to find an all timer to lead them back to glory. Seriously, that guy may not even be born yet!
He certainly wasn’t coming back for Williams or Huertas.
mattal says
Still R
I concede that Cousins may not be a good fit in 2018. The bottom line in my mind is that absent using the stretch provision on either Mozgov/Deng we can’t sign the kids to their 2nd contracts and even contemplate how to get two impact free agents in under the cap.
Jeanie said, shortly after making the FO changes, that she apologized to Lakers fans for waiting too long to pull the trigger on Jim and Mitch. That comment will haunt Lakers fans more than she realizes. Jim and Mitch were more than willing to sacrifice the 2017 and 2019 1st round pick and handcuff our available cap space for years going forward in an effort to needlessly fast forward the team’s progress and save their jobs.
A Horse With No Name says
mattal Still R “absent the stretch provision”–indeed. But it isn’t absent; it’s available and will be used–laker’s will spend to get back to contention.
Busboys4me says
I understand the tanking angle and the ramifications of not having that pick or having that pick, but what happens if we finish third but lose the pick due to the bounce of the balls? The only way we can guarantee a pick in the top three is to lose every single remaining game. That and the Nets will have to win 12 games (they have nine now). We’ve picked second two years in s row, our luck is bound to change one way or the other.
jetjaz says
i truly feel this was a payback trade to mda as magic was horendously insulting to mda as a laker coach. Now mda is up for coach of the yr. I really really believe this. Magic purposely gave the best guy (other than cousins) to the rockets