Bulls ink Murphy | Wolves bring back Brewer

By Adam Silverstein
July 10, 2013

Updated on Saturday, July 20 at 3 p.m.

Florida Gators senior forward Erik Murphy, the No. 49 overall pick in the second round of the 2013 NBA Draft back on June 27, officially agreed to terms of his rookie contract with the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.

Murphy, who led Florida in three-point shooting (.453) during the 2012-13 campaign, is seen by Chicago as a much-needed piece of the puzzle who will have space to shoot the ball in head coach Tom Thibodeau’s system.

He will wear No. 31 for the Bulls and don an NBA uniform for the first time during the 2013 NBA Summer League beginning July 12 in Las Vegas, NV.

Terms of Murphy’s contract were not initially disclosed by Chicago, but OnlyGators.com learned on July 20 that his two-year contract is worth $1.31 million including non-guaranteed salaries of $490,180 in 2013-14 and $816,482 in 2014-15.

Free agent F Corey Brewer has agreed to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team that selected him with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

Brewer will sign with Minnesota for three years and approximately $15 million as soon as the Timberwolves trade guard Luke Ridnour and his $4.3 million expiring contract to create the necessary space under the cap to officially ink Brewer to his multi-year deal, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein.

After starting 43 of his first 94 games with Minnesota, Brewer tore his anterior cruciate ligament early during the 2008-09 campaign and missed the vast majority of the season. He returned in 2009-10 as a full-time starter and put together his best season as a professional, averaging a career-high 13.0 points and 3.4 rebounds in 30.3 minutes per game while starting all 82 contests.

Brewer fell out of favor with the Timberwolves in 2010-11, only starting 22 of 56 games before being traded to the New York Knicks as part of a blockbuster three-team deal that featured Carmelo Anthony.

He never played a game in New York and was waived as a favor a week after being acquired. Brewer quickly signed a three-year, $8 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks and received an NBA Championship ring after averaging 1.5 points in 3.8 minutes per game with Dallas during the postseason.

Despite seeing Brewer as a talented player, the Mavericks traded him and Rudy Fernandez that December to the Denver Nuggets for a future second-round pick.

Brewer averaged 8.9 points and 2.5 rebounds in 21.8 minutes while playing 59 games (17 starts) for Denver in 2011-12 but boosted his numbers to 12.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in 24.4 minutes while seeing action in all 82 games (two starts) for the Nuggets this past season.

Update – July 20 at 3 p.m.: Brewer’s three-year contract is fully-guaranteed and worth a total of $14.1 million. He will be paid $4.5 million in 2013-14, $4.7 million in 2014-15 and $4.9 million in 2015-16.

Photo Credits: Chicago Bulls, Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Join The
Discussion

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top
WordPress Appliance - Powered by TurnKey Linux