According to TNT's David Aldridge, the Knicks have agreed to terms on a one-year deal with ex-Bull Ronnie Brewer. In six seasons, Brewer averages 9.0 PPG/1.8 AST/3.5 REB.
The Knicks' backcourt now looks like some combination of Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Ronnie Brewer. Let's not mistake this backcourt for something that it's not: a melting pot of journeymen, underperformers, dinosaurs and Iman Shumpert.
The Brewer signing doesn't do much for me, nor will it do much for the Knicks. They are a team obsessed with complacency, with status quo, and have an almost ambitious lack of ambition.
Now, I'm not saying it's all doom and gloom for the Knicks. I have faith in Mike Woodson and I trust his ability to continue to raise the defensive IQ of a team void of any such prowess under Mike D'Antoni.
I still hold out a shred of hope that the highest paid frontcourt in the league will eventually figure out how to cooperate and assume defined roles that complement each other. You know, that they'll finally play like they're the highest paid frontcourt in the NBA.
Ronnie Brewer will be a nice player off the bench, sure. He plays with a defense-first mentality, and he can play better defense than the guy in front of him on the depth chart, J.R. Smith. Though let's be honest, I could probably play better defense then J.R. Smith.
Brewer's not solving any pre-existing problems the Knicks already had. The Knicks are plagued with a lack of identity, faulty chemistry, and a stark absence of defined roles for their star players.
Whatever will be will be for the Knicks in 2012 and 2013, but if they hope to ascend the Eastern Conference ladder and compete with the likes of the Heat or the Celtics or the Pacers or even the revamped, new-look Brooklyn Nets, it's not Ronnie Brewer who's going to be instrumental in doing so.
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