2. Ronnie Brewer, Small Forward
It’s pretty easy to see why wings liked to play with D-Rose, especially when they can have some difficulties with their own shot creation. D-Rose draws a ton of attention from opposing defenders. That’s why a former NBA role player like the 6-foot-7 and 220 pound wing that hails from the Arkansas Razorbacks program Ronnie Brewer was such a good fit alongside D-Rose.
Brewer was the 14th overall pick of the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft. He spent the bulk of his playing days in the NBA either as a career journeyman or between the Jazz and Bulls. He spent four seasons with the Jazz and three with the Bulls. The rest was spread out between individual seasons with the likes of the New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, etc.
In his three seasons with the Bulls, Brewer played in 148 regular season games. He averaged 6.5 points per game, 3.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.3 blocks. He shot 45.3 percent from the field, 26.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 61.4 percent from the free-throw line. The defensive value that Brewer brought to the table was a nice fit with D-Rose too. Brewer posted a defensive rating with the Bulls of 99 and a 1.5 defensive box plus/minus rating.
During the 2010-11 season, Rose and Brewer got more than 1,000 regular season minutes on the floor together. As far as the impact on Brewer, he shot around five percent better from the field and 10 percent better from beyond the arc. And Rose would nearly double his steals per 100 possessions when Brewer was on the floor and see a good boost in his steal numbers.
The stop with the Bulls was really the last consistently successful one in the career of Brewer.