Sat, Dec 20, 2014 at 3:01pm

ROCKETS LAND BREWER IN 3-TEAM TRADE

In a three-team trade, the Houston Rockets acquired guard/forward Corey Brewer from the Minnesota Timberwolves and combo guard Alexey Shved from the Philadelphia 76ers; the Timberwolves acquired shooting guard Troy Daniels, a protected second-round draft pick in 2015, a protected second-round draft pick in 2016, and a trade exception from Houston; and the 76ers acquired the rights to center Sergei Lishchuk and a second-round draft pick in 2015 from Houston, plus center Ronny Turiaf from Minnesota.

What does it give the Houston Rockets
Brewer is an exceptional defender and a selfless team player who can start if needed. As the NBA's current steals leader (2.25 per game), he should provide a defensive boost right away, and he gives the Rockets a lot more lineup flexibility. Shved brings added options too, as he can play anywhere from the point to small forward. This deal should definitely help Houston, which needs to keep pace with Western Conference (and Texas) rivals San Antonio and Dallas. In a related move the Rockets waived veteran swingman Francisco Garcia.

What does it give the Minnesota Timberwolves
The T-wolves are overloaded with wing players, so this opens up more minutes for both Shabazz Muhammad and rookie Andrew Wiggins. Since Minnesota also has the currently-injured Kevin Martin (as well as quality veteran swingman Chase Budinger and rookie Glenn Robinson), they could afford to part with Brewer. Furthermore, Daniels--a shooter--may be able to eventually carve out a niche coming off Minnesota's bench.

What does it give the Philadelphia 76ers
For the Sixers this is yet another move for the future. They're eager to help other teams in these types of deals, since Philly has loads of cap space and can leverage it to pile up more long-term assets by taking on contracts other NBA squads are trying to move. Turiaf is expected by many to be waived (he's currently injured), while Lishchuk likely doesn't have much of an NBA future (as he's a 32-year old currently playing in the Spanish League for Valencia). The draft picks should eventually help Philly with their rebuilding project, however.

Fantasy impact
Brewer's fantasy value in Houston should remain similar to what it was in Minneosta, since he's not a big scorer to begin with. He might sap some value from Trevor Ariza and Donatas Motiejunas. Meanwhile Shved might enjoy a small boost in fantasy fortunes with the Rockets, as Houston has struggled to find a lot of consistency at the point position this season (so this isn't great news for fantasy owners of Isaiah Canaan and/or Jason Terry). That said, this deal is great news for fantasy enthusiasts with Minnesota's Shabazz Muhammad on their squads, as he may well become the T-Wolves' go-to scorer until Martin returns from injury. Budinger too may benefit. While there isn't likely major fantasy fallout for Philly, the loss of Shved probably means Tony Wroten will play more point guard (backing up Michael Carter-Williams), with K.J. McDaniels shifting to shooting guard more to take Wroten's place as Hollis Thompson's main backup. That probably hurts Thompson's production, and may help rookie small forward Jeremi Grant (who probably gets more minutes backing up revelation Robert Covington). Daniels is mostly a shooting specialist, and this trade doesn't help him (since Minny is still so loaded with wing players). Turiaf and Lishchuk didn't have much (if any) fantasy value before this deal, and that doesn't change here.