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With an infectious smile, a bubbly, happy-go-lucky personality and the ability to give the cliché 110% each night for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Corey Brewer is easily a fan favorite in the Twin Cities. Before games, Brewer signs countless autographs, taking time to share small moments of times with the fans who come to watch him play every night, thanking them for the opportunity.

Unbelievably, Brewer is the longest-tenured Timberwolves player, having worn a Minnesota jersey for four years now. However, with the constant changes surrounding the team, Brewer very well may not represent the team after this season, if not earlier. His name comes up in trade rumors frequently, most notably with the Timberwolves attempting to facilitate the eventual Carmelo Anthony trade to the New York Knicks, while Brewer becomes one of the pieces ending up with the Denver Nuggets. At this time, that trade or any other involving Brewer has not gone through, leaving Brewer in limbo, even stating his desire to stay in Minnesota.

Most everyone who follows basketball knows Brewer’s skillset. He is a defensive-minded player, who can, at times, create havoc on the floor for the opposition. However, the reverse effect can come into play as well where his energy and hustle allow offenses to take advantage of his opportunistic nature and Brewer’s lack of a dominant offensive game cannot "make up" for those times. It seems as if Brewer’s impact on a game is always great, but the question becomes each night which team he will help most.

For those who have paid attention to the Minnesota Timberwolves during Brewer’s first four seasons in the NBA, it is impossible not to see the improvement in his offensive game though. Of course, that began last year on a team that desperately needed him to find some offense to provide. Yet, in 2010-11, the Timberwolves added quite a bit of firepower in Michael Beasley, rookie Wesley Johnson, Martell Webster and Luke Ridnour, as well as seeing offensive development in players such as Darko Milicic and All-Star Kevin Love. Therefore, Brewer’s average dropped from last year’s career-high of 13.0 points per game to where it currently stands at 8.9 per game.

With the added firepower in Minnesota’s lineup, Brewer needed to redefine himself yet again after his breakout offensive season in 2009-10. During the preseason, Brewer was incredibly bad, struggling to find himself in the new Timberwolves attack. There were times in the preseason and early portions of the regular season where Wayne Ellington, Johnson, Webster and even Anthony Tolliver in some small forward minutes were all significantly out-playing Brewer, pushing him to the end of the bench. It looked as if his time in Minnesota was officially coming to an end.

Brewer returned to his roots, returned to what he does best, which is on the defensive side of the court. Although his minutes dwindled, the smile never left Brewer’s face and he continued to work. Recognizing he could only do so much in his limited minutes, he focused on making each minute productive and his minutes began to climb back up. At the same time, Wes Johnson has struggled to become completely comfortable with the NBA game and Martell Webster’s injuries and own lack of production have shifted the view of Head Coach Kurt Rambis on his "overflow" of talent at the shooting guard and small forward positions.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Surprisingly, the biggest and most steady producers at those positions are second-year player Wayne Ellington and Brewer. Rookie Wes Johnson is having an average rookie season, showing flashes of what made him the Timberwolves selection this past summer, but also frustrating with his inability to put the ball on the floor and force the action. After a preseason of fine play, Martell Webster’s back surgery and subsequent back spasms have been a factor in his pedestrian play. In fact, the Timberwolves may find that the most prudent move for the franchise would be to move Webster, as he also has value around the league, and keep Brewer long-term.

President of Basketball Operations David Kahn stated the team’s thoughts on Brewer quite simply last week when he said they are not actively shopping Brewer, but would not be doing their jobs if they didn’t listen to phone calls regarding him. Brewer is in the final year of his contract, but is a restricted free agent, so the Timberwolves will not give him away, as he does have value around the league. If Brewer remains in Minnesota when the trade deadline comes and goes, it would not be surprising to see him as a member of the team for many years going forward.

With Brewer’s character through the adversity of this season shining through, he has arguably made himself the most important Timberwolves player not named Kevin Love or Michael Beasley. If the Timberwolves truly want to continue to build a team that resembles a pack of wolves, one of the priorities they need to have is to sign the right type of players. Corey Brewer is one of those players, if the price is right and there aren’t many reasons to expect it won’t be. After all, he has already shown his willingness to do whatever his team needs of him, whether it is to score the ball at a higher clip than his norm, attempt to shut down the opposition’s best perimeter player or to change the tempo of a game. He never complained when his playing time was cut in favor of players roughly at the same talent level as he is, so there is no reason to expect that to change when and if the Timberwolves begin to add players who hold greater skillsets than Brewer in the future.

Corey Brewer will continue to do what his team asks of him and he will do it with a smile on his face.