Guard Shannon Brown to re-sign with Lakers

Basketball Betting Lines

08/05/2010 -

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Shannon Brown is returning to the Los Angeles Lakers, turning down more lucrative offers for a shot at a third straight championship.

Brown's agent, Mark Bartelstein, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the high-flying free agent guard agreed to a two-year deal worth $4.6 million to return for his third season with Los Angeles.

``He's been there two years, and they've won two championships,'' Bartelstein said. ``There's very few times you have a chance to go for a threepeat. When you have that opportunity, he couldn't pass it up.''

The Lakers acquired Brown in a trade in early 2009, and he quickly earned a role in their rotation as a backup to Kobe Bryant. Brown also became a crowd favorite for his acrobatic dunks, earning an invitation to last season's dunk contest at All-Star weekend.

Brown averaged career highs of 8.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists last season while playing solid defense for the Lakers. His role could grow next season if Los Angeles attempts to reduce Bryant's minutes to keep him fresh for another postseason, although Brown again will be competing for minutes with Sasha Vujacic.

After opting out of his contract earlier this summer, Brown spent the past four weeks considering offers from several teams, including New York, Cleveland and New Orleans. Most offered longer deals with more security, but little shot at title contention.

After the Michigan State product bounced around the NBA with four teams in his first three seasons, comfort and championships were more important than a little extra cash - and if Brown has another strong season, he can opt out of the second year of his deal again next summer.

``He loves everything that's happened for him in L.A.,'' Bartelstein said. ``He had more lucrative offers out there for sure, but he wanted to keep going with the Lakers.''

The deal pushes the NBA's highest payroll even higher to almost $95 million - well over the likely threshold for the luxury tax, which owner Jerry Buss has been willing to pay while his team wins championships.

The Lakers signed Steve Blake, Matt Barnes and Theo Ratliff last month to bolster their bench, which had no consistent contributors beyond Lamar Odom and Brown last season.

Brown's signing will put 12 veterans under contract with the Lakers, who also are interested in signing second-round draft picks Devin Ebanks and Derrick Caracter. Los Angeles had 13 players last season.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.