Corey Brewer received a surprising buyout from the New York Knicks, and the Boston Celtics are among the teams who have already expressed interest. (ESPN.com)

Sources say Boston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Dallas are among the teams with the most interest in Brewer, who joined the Knicks only last week as part of the Carmelo Anthony deal.

Brewer is known mostly as a defender, but, as Rob Mahoney noted for The New York Times’ Off The Dribble blog, “Brewer’s competent defense comes with a significant offensive trade-off.” In other words, he’s a solid defender who could not put the ball in the basket to save his dog’s life.

Many defenders excel simply by playing defense and leaving the offense to other, more skilled players. Think Thabo Sefolosha, or the cheap-shot artist formerly known as Bruce Bowen. But Brewer is not like those players. He actually, in Mahoney’s words, “fancies himself a more active participant in the offense, and unfortunately for the Wolves and now the Knicks, that mindset results in a lot of errant jumpers.”

Theoretically, playing with a contender could help Brewer see the light. He could look around at Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo and think, “Hey, you know what? I should never shoot the ball on this team, not in a million years. Everyone I see is so much better than I am.” Or he could continue to do what he’s done his whole career, which is shooting far too often for a player of his middling (to be kind) offensive caliber.

Offensive putridity aside, Brewer’s a young(-ish) wing with defensive talent, potentially available on the cheap. For a 12th or 13th man, the Celtics could do worse.