NBA notebook: Ronnie Brewer sees new opportunity with jazzed-up Bulls

CHICAGO — Ronnie Brewer saw a perfect opportunity with the jazzed-up Bulls.

With a chance to start in the backcourt and reunite with former Utah teammates Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver, Brewer decided Chicago was the place for him. So he turned down a potential sign-and-trade with Boston for a three-year, $12.5 million deal last week.

He joins a team that's looking for more after consecutive first-round playoff losses, and he believes the Bulls' best days are coming.

"They've had some success, but I feel like this team hasn't really scratched the surface of the success that we'll have in the future," he said.

Brewer sees "a great young core group of guys" that includes All-Star point guard Derrick Rose and top-tier rebounder Joakim Noah. And he believes with the Utah contingent in place, the Bulls "can go a long way."

Brewer has averaged 10.3 points in four seasons — almost all with Utah. He got dealt to Memphis at the trade deadline last February and appeared in only five games the rest of the way because of a strained hamstring and the fact that the Grizzlies were out of contention.

"My hamstring's been fine for a long time," Brewer said. "Toward the end of the season, I was healthy and ready to play. The circumstances in Memphis, we weren't going to make the playoffs so they kind of held me out. I've been healthy for quite some time."

He underwent an MRI and various strength tests before signing his contract on Monday, delaying his introductory news conference by about 2 1/2 hours, and has been working out all summer. He hasn't been playing in as many pickup games because he didn't want an injury to jeopardize a potential deal. Instead, he's been focusing more on individual drills, with an eye on one goal.

He sees championship potential in Chicago. And he's conceding nothing to the Miami Heat.

"Just because those guys went down there, you can't crown them as champs already," Brewer said.

"Those guys," of course, are LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Chicago had enough cap space to land two major stars and made a push for all three. Once the Heat decided to form a fearsome threesome in Miami, the Bulls wasted no time signing Boozer and acquiring the inside scoring presence they lacked for years.

The addition of Korver gave them a shooter they desperately needed.