Oklahoma City Thunder: The pride factor in trading for Ronnie Brewer

The problem was that Brooks had just watched his team blow a 14-point lead in the final eight minutes at Houston, the Rockets racing to 29 points over that span, while one defender after another whiffed on the assignment of stopping former Thunder guard James Harden, who went on to score a career-high 46 points.

A day later, the Thunder added another threat that might possibly come in handy.

Just minutes before Thursday's 2 p.m. trading deadline, the Thunder acquired Ronnie Brewer from New York in exchange for a second-round draft pick. In a separate deal, the Thunder sent Eric Maynor to Portland for a trade exception and the rights to Greek forward Georgios Printezis, a 2007 second-round selection who has yet to play in the NBA.

Brewer, 27, joins the Thunder after previous stops in Chicago, Memphis and Utah. Now in his seventh season out of Arkansas, the 6-foot-7 guard/forward is expected to bring experience and an added defensive presence to the Thunder. Brewer, who was the 14th overall pick by the Jazz in 2006, holds career averages of 8.4 points, three rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals. He's played in 464 career games, starting 301 of them.

“The opportunity to add a player like Ronnie without dipping into our immediate playing rotation was something we feel like we needed to pursue,” said Thunder general manager Sam Presti. “He brings a defensive mind-set, versatility as a perimeter defender and he comes in with over 300 games started.

“More impressive to us is the fact that he's played for some organizations that we really have a lot of respect for. In addition to that, he's a high-character, hard-working individual that we feel like is going to fit well with our current group.”