Corey Brewer’s season ended by torn knee ligament.

Corey Brewer tore ligaments in his right knee during Saturday's loss to Denver and is out for the season.

By Jerry Zgoda, Star Tribune

Last update: December 2, 2008 - 7:09 AM

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CHARLOTTE -- Corey Brewer, one of the Timberwolves' young rebuilding blocks, will miss the rest of the season because of a torn ligament in his right knee suffered in Saturday night's loss to Denver.

Brewer, a two-time NCAA champion and the seventh pick overall in 2007, worked all last summer to improve his shot and his game after a disappointing rookie season and told Wolves basketball boss Kevin McHale on Sunday that he was just starting to grow comfortable with the pro game. Now his season has ended after just 15 games.

"I personally feel bad for the kid because I know how much time he put in and how he sacrificed to be a better player," McHale said. "And it was just starting to come around for him. It's a setback, and we're just going to have to deal with it. It's not what you want, but he's 22 and he'll bounce back and be fine. The good news is he's 22. The bad news is that's time for most guys to play and really improve their game."

The Wolves lose their best individual defender at a small-forward position where little-used Rodney Carney, enigmatic Rashad McCants and starting guard Mike Miller all could be asked to assume some of Brewer's minutes and duties.

When McHale, on the team's three-game Eastern trip that started Monday in Charlotte, was asked if the team would make a trade to help replace Brewer, he said, "We'll see what happens."

McCants played less than 11 minutes in three games since returning from a back injury and is an obvious candidate to receive more minutes in Brewer's absence, although Wolves coach Randy Wittman said McCants needs to hoist fewer indiscriminate three-pointers and commit fewer turnovers to do so. Carney, acquired last summer from Philadelphia, has played sparingly this season but most approaches the 6-9 Brewer in size (6-7) and game.

Wittman said he could play McCants and Carney together at the perimeter guard and forward position and put Ollie and Randy Foye together in the backcourt and move Miller to forward.

"Opportunities, opportunities ... for somebody to step up and provide quality minutes that Corey was supplying," Wittman said. "I thought Corey was starting to fall into understanding how to play and playing with some good confidence. He gives us great energy off the bench. We're going to miss that. I think we've got guys who can step up now and provide that."

Brewer fell twice in the second half Saturday against Denver. Wittman said he knew something was wrong when Brewer asked to come out of the game and briefly went to the locker room after the first fall because "Corey never asks to come out," but he didn't think the injury was serious.

A medical imaging test Monday morning in Minnesota revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Surgery will be scheduled once swelling subsides.

"That's a big blow to him and a big blow to our team," forward Ryan Gomes said. "He makes plays that really don't show up too much in the stats. He's one of our best defenders because he can guard a lot of different guys at a lot of different positions. We have to become much better defensively as a team now because he could make those plays and guard guys one-on-one."