Ronnie

Brewer

It was fairly clear the Jazz were going to take Brewer or J.J. Redick, and with Redick going to the Magic at 11, the Jazz had an easy decision. He’s a great scorer, but there are questions about his shooting. He likes to take the ball to the rack, which should be what the Jazz need.

We’ll get a more accurate report either tonight or tomorrow morning, but either way we’re not banking on Rip’s return before the playoffs. Ronnie Brewer scored three points on 1-of-4 shooting with five rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block over 23 minutes in tonight’s laugher of a game, and deserves consideration as a jack-of-all-trades type player in Roto leagues.

Owners weren’t expecting much out of the shooting guard position either way, so it’s best to take a wait-and-see approach with both Hamilton and Ronnie Brewer.

“We’re going to reevaluate in the morning, but most likely,” Deng said when asked if he’d be playing. He’s missed two straight games after taking a shot to the ribs, but it would be surprising to see him sit out against Miami on Thursday night. We’ll have another update before tipoff, but Deng appears safe to use moving forward.

Brewer posted a similar line on Wednesday, but disappeared in the following game on Thursday with just three points and not much else in just under 20 minutes. We doubt he’ll play that little on most nights going forward, and while he won’t put up these numbers every night we do think he should be owned in 12-team formats.

The Bulls are a tight-knit group and they continually overcame injuries during the shortened 2011-12 season, but the real reason Boozer will return is that he is owed $47.1 million over the next three years. He shot 1-of-11 in the Bulls’ Game 6 loss and might be a candidate for amnesty, but it’s more likely Chicago will squeeze whatever they can out of him. Kyle Korver, C.J. Watson and Ronnie Brewer all have unguaranteed contracts, while Omer Asik will be a restricted FA.

Brewer is basically a steals specialist even with the starting job in hand, and things will get worse once Rip Hamilton is healthy. The Bulls’ starters were conspicuously outplayed on Sunday, and as a unit they shot just 17-of-43 from the field.

It’s good news for the Bulls and owners as tests showed no separation. The bad news is that it’s yet another nick on Hamilton’s banged-up body and the damage is on his shooting side. The 34-year-old has appeared in just 16 of 40 games this season due to various muscle strains and pulls. Hamilton is not expected to play in Wednesday’s game against the Bucks, thus giving Ronnie Brewer the start.

Hamilton left Monday’s win one minute into the game after running into a Roy Hibbert screen. Hamilton was said to have difficulty afterward even lifting his right arm as a result. Hall of Famer Sam Smith wonders if the Bulls will re-sign Mike James if Hamilton misses time with the injury, and it looks like he will. He wasn’t worth owning in most leagues since he’s been injured for much of the season, but was working his way back onto the fantasy landscape. Ronnie Brewer will be worth a look if Hamilton is going to be out for a long period.

Hamilton reportedly injured the “top” of his shoulder and will be reexamined on Tuesday. The veteran was just getting healthy and back into the groove after a groin injury had him sidelined, and now it sounds like he’ll be out for a stretch of time once again. Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver will each see a boost in minutes while Hamilton is out.