The Los Angeles Lakers have re-signed free agent guard Shannon Brown, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.  Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

“Shannon was an important member of our team and played a valuable role in helping us win the last two NBA championships,” said Kupchak.  “We’re aware that he had several attractive offers from other teams and are very happy that he chose to remain a Laker.

Brown, a two-time NBA Champion with the Lakers, was originally acquired by the team on February 7, 2009 as part of a trade with the Charlotte Bobcats.  He appeared in 82 regular season games including seven starts last season, averaging a career-best 8.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 20.7 minutes.  In 23 postseason games, Brown averaged 4.9 points and 1.3 rebounds in 14.1 minutes.

A participant in the 2010 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend, Brown led the Lakers in scoring this past season on three occasions and recorded his first career double-double with career-highs in points (27) and rebounds (10) in a February 16th victory over Golden State.

The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has signed free agent guard/forward Keith Bogans.  In accordance with team policy, terms of the contract were not announced.

Bogans (6-5, 215) is a seven-year veteran of the NBA, who spent last season with the San Antonio Spurs.  In 79 games with the Spurs, he started 50 contests and averaged 4.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.2 apg, 19.7 mpg, and shot .403 from the field, .357 from downtown and .740 from the charity stripe.

Following a successful collegiate career at the University of Kentucky, the Washington, D.C. native was selected in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.  The 30-year old Bogans has played in 504 regular-season contests (227 starts), and averaged 7.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 1.4 apg in 22.8 mpg.  He also holds career shooting averages of .394 from the field, .351 from behind the arc and .721 from the line.  In addition to his stint in San Antonio, he has also suited up for Orlando (thrice), Charlotte (twice), Houston and Milwaukee.

The New Jersey Nets have obtained forward Troy Murphy from the Indiana Pacers as part of a four-team trade which also involved the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Hornets, Nets General Manager Billy King announced today. As part of the transaction, the Rockets acquire Nets guard Courtney Lee and send Trevor Ariza to New Orleans, with Indiana acquiring Darren Collison and James Posey from the Hornets.

“We are very pleased to add Troy to our roster,” said King.  “He is a quality power forward who has the ability to stretch the floor, and we feel that he will be a very positive addition to our frontcourt rotation.”

Murphy, 6’11”/245, is a nine-year NBA veteran with career averages of 12.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in 29.4 minutes over 621 career games (477 starts) with Golden State and Indiana.  He has shot .447 (2,707-6,054) from the field and .394 (569-1,443) from behind the arc.  The Notre Dame product was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the first round (14th overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft.  Murphy has averaged a double-double in five of his nine years and had his best season in 2004-05 when he averaged 15.4 points and 10.8 rebounds in 33.9 minutes for Golden State.  In 2008-09, he became the only player in NBA history to rank among the league’s top five in both rebounding average (11.8) and three-point field goal percentage (.450, 161-358).  Last season, Murphy appeared in 72 games, including 69 starts, posting averages of 14.6 points on 47.2 percent shooting and 10.2 rebounds in 32.6 minutes for Indiana.  In addition, Murphy ranked 10th in the NBA in double-doubles with 39.

Ariza (6-8, 210), who was drafted in the second round (43rd overall) by New York in the 2004 NBA Draft, averaged 14.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 72 games (71 starts) last year in his first season with the Rockets. Ariza, 25 years old, posted 12 20-point games last year and also registered 10 double-doubles. He spent the five previous seasons with New York, Orlando and the L.A. Lakers, including winning an NBA Championship in 2009 with the Lakers. During the title run, Ariza started all 23 postseason games for the Lakers, averaging 11.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.57 steals. He led the Lakers with 40 triples made in the post-season. Ariza holds career averages of 8.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.25 steals in 383 games (123 starts) in six NBA seasons.

Collison (6-0, 160) was selected in the first round (21st overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft, averaged 12.4 points, 5.7 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 27.8 minutes in 76 games (37 starts) in his rookie year for the Hornets. In 37 starts, averaged 18.8 points, 9.1 assists (most among rookies in starts), and 3.5 rebounds in 40.3 minutes per game. Collison was named the February T-Mobile Rookie of the Month and registered his first career triple-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists vs. Indiana on Feb. 19. For the season, he ranked second in free-throw percentage (.851), and third in assists (5.7), third in three-point percentage (.400) among rookies.

Posey (6-8, 217), averaged 5.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 22.5 minutes over 77 games (two starts) in his second year with the Hornets.  He had 11 games with 10 or more points and hit back-to-back game-winners for New Orleans in January. Posey, who has won championships with both Boston and Miami, holds career averages of 8.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 27.5 minutes in 815 games (479 starts) during time spent with the New Orleans Hornets, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, and Denver Nuggets.

Lee (6-5, 200, Western Kentucky) owns career averages of 10.3 points (.442, 581-1,315 FG; .854, 211-247 FT), 2.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.14 steals in 148 career games (108 starts) with Orlando and New Jersey. A consistent shooter from beyond the arc, Lee also owns a career mark of .369 (158-428 3FG) from 3-point range, which included 82-of-203 (.404) treys made with the Magic in 2008-09. During the 2009 postseason, Lee played in 21 games (16 starts) and averaged 8.0 points in helping the Magic reach the NBA Finals. He also poured in playoff-career-high 24 points vs. Philadelphia (4/22/09). Selected by Orlando in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft, Lee was a key piece in a trade to New Jersey along with Rafer Alston and Tony Battie in exchange for Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson on June 25, 2009.

Lee, who averaged 14 points per game after last season’s All-Star Break, finished the season with averages of 12.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per contest in 71 games (66 starts) with the Nets in 2009-10. A player who also prides himself on defense, his versatility allowed him to guard multiple positions and post 1.31 steals per game last season. He hit .436 (338-775 FG) from the field, .338 (76-225 3FG) from downtown and finished sixth on New Jersey’s top-10, single-season free throw percentage list at .869 (133-153 FT). In his 66 starts, Lee averaged 12.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 34.6 minutes. Overall, Lee improved in 10 statistical categories from his 2008-09 rookie season with the Magic where he averaged 8.4 points and 2.3 rebounds.

The New Orleans Hornets announced the hiring of Tim Connelly as Assistant General Manager and Gerald Madkins as Vice President of Player Personnel today. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not released.

“Tim and Gerald are very well respected people in the NBA as two of the top, young talents in the league,” said Hornets General Manager Dell Demps. “Tim has a keen eye on international talent and has been a key asset to the Wizards basketball operations department for the last decade. Gerald has a wealth of experience in this league as a player and in scouting roles. We are excited and fortunate to be adding them to our staff.”

Connelly comes to the Hornets from the Washington Wizards where he most recently served as the Director of Player Personnel. Connelly’s recent roles at the Wizards as Director of Player Personnel including head scouting, salary cap and database management, player evaluation responsibilities, as well as assisting Tommy Sheppard, the Vice President of Player Personnel, with all front office duties.

The Baltimore native has traveled to five continents to identify top talent in the basketball world. Well-known both internationally and domestically in basketball circles, Connelly enjoyed a rapid ascent in the Wizards organization.

Connelly began working for the Wizards as an intern in the basketball operations department in 1996, and after his graduation from DC’s Catholic University in 1999, Connelly was named to the Wizards scouting staff as Assistant Video Coordinator.  In 2000, Connelly became a full-time scout for Washington, and later assumed the head scouting role.

Connelly’s service to the game of basketball has spanned the globe in recent years. During the summer of 2006, Connelly served as a coach for the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program in South Africa, as well as at the Seed Academy in Dakar, Senegal.  In the summer of 2007, Connelly visited Dublin, Ireland to help raise youth awareness of cultural diversity and integration through the sport of basketball, and to work with the Irish federation on future basketball related initiatives.  More recently, with his brother and Wizards scout Pat, Connelly visited England in his personal efforts to aid the globalization of basketball.

A graduate of Towson Catholic High School, Connelly has aspirations to further his involvement in grass-roots basketball programs in his hometown of Baltimore.  One of seven children and five brothers, each of Connelly’s brothers — Joe, Pat, Daniel and Kevin — played basketball at Towson Catholic; the powerhouse Baltimore program. Joe is currently a coach and teacher at Baltimore Freedom Academy; Pat is employed as a scout with the Wizards and Daniel works as an assistant coach at Princeton.

Madkins comes to the Hornets from the Houston Rockets where for the last two seasons served as the Director of Scouting. At the Rockets, Madkins was responsible for scouting colleges and developmental leagues. The UCLA product served as the Director of West Coast College Scouting for the Seattle SuperSonics during the 2007-08 season and as a scout for the New York Knicks from 2003-07.

The Merced, California native served as an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at his alma mater, UCLA, from 2001-03 and at California State University from 2000-01.

After a stellar playing career with the Bruins during college, Madkins began an eight-year professional career in 1992 that included stints in the Continental Basketball Association (Grand Rapids, Rockford), NBA (Cleveland, Miami and Golden State), Spanish Basketball League (Joventut Badelona) and French Basketball League (Pitch Cholet). He was named the 1993 CBA Rookie of the Year.

The AP reports:

The U.S. national team brought its injury bug east.

Indiana forward Danny Granger dislocated a finger on his right hand Tuesday as the Americans scrimmaged during the opening day of their training camp in New York.

Granger was hurt when he banged his hand on the rim while playing defense. Team officials didn’t believe the injury was serious, but Granger planned to see a doctor after practice.

With his ring and middle fingers taped together and a splint over the ring finger, Granger said he wasn’t sure of his status, having never before injured his shooting hand.

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that the team has signed guard Roger Mason, Jr. as a free agent. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mason Jr., 6-5, 212-pounds, has career averages of 7.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 19.2 minutes in 346 games (88 starts) over six NBA seasons with Chicago, Toronto, Washington and San Antonio. The Washington, D.C. native averaged 6.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 19.2 minutes in 79 games (five starts) with San Antonio during the 2009-10 season. Originally selected by Chicago in the second round (31st overall) of the 2002 NBA Draft, following his junior season at University of Virginia, Mason averaged career-highs of 11.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 30.4 minutes while playing in all 82 games (71 starts) with the Spurs during the 2008-09 campaign.