New Orleans – The New Orleans Hornets announced that they have signed free agent forward Rodney Rogers. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Rodney will be a great addition to our team,” said General Manager Allan Bristow. “He’s played under Coach (Byron) Scott before and his veteran leadership and ability to shoot the ball will make it easy for him to find a solid role with us.”

The 6-7 forward has played the last two seasons with the New Jersey Nets, where he was coached by Scott in 2002-03 and part of the 2003-04 season. He averaged 7.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 69 games last season, including 14.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 15 starts.

Rogers, an 11-year NBA veteran, holds career averages of 11.2 points and 4.5 rebounds over 808 games with Denver, the L.A. Clippers, Phoenix and Boston in addition to his time with the Nets. He was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 1999-00 after averaging 13.8 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting .486 (428-881) from the floor and .440 (115-262) from three-point range in 82 games with Phoenix.

Originally selected by Denver with the ninth overall pick in 1993 NBA Draft, Rogers spent two seasons with the Nuggets (1993-95) before being traded to the L.A. Clippers prior to the 1995-96 season. He spent four seasons in Los Angeles, including the 1997-98 campaign, when he posted career-best averages of 15.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.22 steals. He signed as a free agent with Phoenix prior to the 1999-00 season. After winning the Sixth Man of the Year award that season, he spent another year-and-a-half with the Suns before being traded to Boston midway through the 2001-02 season. He signed as a free agent with New Jersey that summer and helped lead the Nets to the 2003 NBA Finals.

Rogers entered the 1993 NBA Draft after three seasons at Wake Forest, where he averaged 19.3 points and 7.9 rebounds in 89 career games. He earned ACC Player of the Year and All-America Second Team honors as a junior and was named All-ACC First Team as both a junior and sophomore.