The Bestest: Grizzlies Discussing Trade for Ronnie Brewer

So the majority of talk around Straight Outta Vancouver has been about the Grizzlies interest in adding a player to bolster their relatively weak bench in anticipation of a playoff run.

The Grizzlies have talked about signing Von Wafer, attempted to score Nate Robinson, potentially have interest in Dorell Wright, and are apparently in conversations with the Utah Jazz about Ronnie Brewer.

Brewer would be, almost undoubtedly, the best option of all of these players. He's considered to be a top-tier perimeter defender, one of the best at snatching steals in the league without over-gambling. He can shoot from deep; although he's not a sharpshooter, he can nail the corner three. And most importantly he is fairly enormous, standing 6 foot 7 inches tall at the shooting guard position.

Not unlike Dorell Wright, Ronnie Brewer's biggest assets are his physical tools. Brewer has crazy hops, he's one of the best dunkers out there with almost 20% of his buckets coming off slams. He has decent handles and passing ability but, in all honesty, he's definitely a finisher first, as 75% of his points are assisted.

And while he can shoot, you would rather he doesn't. Brewer has a great eFG% at .505, but his eFG% on jumpers is just .338, which is terrible. He does get over half of his offense from insides, which is a good thing because he shoots .644 from in close with all those dunks.

Ronnie B's actually have a bit of a down-season this year, which could be why the Jazz are open to moving him. Last year he looked like an emerging franchise-caliber player, averaging almost 14 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and close to 2 steals per game. This season he's back under 10 points per game, shooting almost 2 fewer times per game, though his steals are up and so are his assists.

Honestly part of the problem is likely just that Ronnie Brewer is getting less touches with Carlos Boozer in the lineup. And his efficiency, you would assume, will probably skyrocket when playing off the bench.

Also like Dorell Wright, though, he is a high assist rate player on a team with a superstar distributor. That always means there is a risk of a tremendous drop-off once he loses his dime-dropper. Of course Jamaal Tinsley passes the ball well, but he's no Deron Williams.

Still that risk just isn't enough to hold off getting Brewer if the move could be made. He's young, a top-tier defender, and probably isn't going to be dominant enough to need to re-sign and risk future cap-space for this summer. Again, Sam Young would see his time decline with Ronnie around, but Brewer is a definite upgrade, which is something Grizz fans have to be excited about.