Brewer earned rave reviews all week, with guard Deron Williams saying Saturday, "Ronnie Brewer's been, I would probably say, the best player in camp. He's been crazy."

Sloan commended Brewer for having a "completely different attitude" now when it comes to working and said: "Ronnie's played extremely well. He's in terrific shape. He's gotten stronger, he's gotten a little bit bigger. He's playing with a great deal of confidence."

Miles, meanwhile, opted to skip summer league as a restricted free agent. He worked out in New York, but described himself as having good days and bad days in camp, an assessment with which Sloan did not disagree.

"He wasn't here in the summer and he's probably not in as good a shape as he should be in," Sloan said. "And you're going to be up and down when you're not in great shape."

Williams said he saw similarities between his rookie season and that of Brewer. While Brewer was a lottery pick who played in just 56 games, Williams was not a full-time starter despite being drafted No. 3 overall.

"You feel like you should be playing a little bit and you're sitting on that bench, it's not a fun experience," Williams said. "The only thing you can do is try to work hard and get better and try to make coach have to play you."

Has Brewer forced Sloan to have to play him?

"I think so," Williams said.

As for his rookie experience, Brewer said at least he was able to gain some experience on a team that reached the Western Conference finals.

"A lot of rookies didn't play on teams that weren't even that good,'' he said, adding, "I'm excited, looking forward to this year, going farther and playing."

rsiler@sltrib.com