Timberwolves trade Corey Brewer to Rockets

The Minnesota Timberwolves will trade veteran swingman Corey Brewer to the Houston Rockets, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The Timberwolves will receive shooting guard Troy Daniels, two second-round draft picks and cash — the Sacramento Kings' 2015 pick, which the Rockets owned, and a future second-rounder from Houston. The Philadelphia 76ers also were involved in the deal, receiving injured big man Ronny Turiaf from the Timberwolves and the Rockets' 2015 second-round pick while sending point guard Alexey Shved to Houston.

The Rockets will release veteran small forward Francisco Garcia to make room for the two new players.

The person requested anonymity because the trade had not been announced.

Brewer will help provide depth behind shooting guard James Harden and small forward Trevor Ariza while also potentially playing with them in bigger (with Harden at point guard) or smaller (Ariza at power forward) lineups. Rookie small forward Kostas Papanikolaou has shown flashes of strong play but still is adjusting to the NBA after playing in Greece.

Brewer averaged 10.5 points in 28.3 minutes for the Timberwolves this season, starting 16 of 24 games. He now moves from a lottery team to a title contender with the 19-6 Rockets.

Minnesota's move may mean more minutes for second-year small forward Shabazz Muhammad, who has averaged 12.4 points in 19.1 minutes while starting two games. Muhammad, 22, and rookie shooting guard Andrew Wiggins, 19, are big parts in Timberwolves president and coach Flip Saunders' move to rebuild the franchise after trading Kevin Love last offseason, a decision that has left the Timberwolves 5-19.