It didn’t take long for New Orleans to find the player it needed to replace the departed Jannero Pargo.

The Hornets signed free agent Devin Brown, a six-year veteran with playoff experience, Friday afternoon.

Photo by Bradley Handwerger / WWL-TV.com

Newly acquired guard/forward Devin Brown hugs Hornets radio announcer Gil McGregor prior to being introduced to the media Friday afternoon

But more importantly, he has intimate knowledge of the Hornets, having played with the team while it was in Oklahoma City during its post-Katrina exile.

“It feels good. I’m glad to be back,” Brown said. “I’ve got a lot of family and support here. I’m ready to go out and get some things done.”

On the day when the franchise unveiled a new floor and two days after showing its new uniforms, New Orleans continues its transformation that began last season with a first-ever division championship and continues with a push towards a franchise-record 11,000 season tickets sold.

And while the franchise continues to sell tickets, holding an open house Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. at the New Orleans Arena, it also continues to change the roster. Brown becomes the second offseason acquisition, joining James Posey to add depth at the guard and forward position.

When Pargo left for riches in the Russian professional basketball league, a spot opened up, a critical one being that it backs up All-Star point guard Chris Paul.

At 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, Brown is bigger and more physical than Pargo. That certainly helped him catch the eye of General Manager Jeff Bower, but it was his prior history with the Hornets that did the most for him.

“The experience Devin had with us in the past and how successful he was able to blend his talents in with a lot of these players are key reasons we made the signing,” Bower said.

His experience at playing point guard in the past also helped.

“He has got the ability to play the point,” Bower said. “He has the ability to play the off guard. We think in addition to Chris and Mike James, the three of them all have the ball handling and the varying skill sets for us to use at the point position as well as some off the ball.

Photo by Bradley Handwerger / WWL-TV.com

Devin Brown

“We like the depth it creates for us in a number of areas and the experience he has.”

Brown has played with San Antonio, where he won an NBA championship, the Hornets, the Denver Nuggets, the Utah Jazz and most recently, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After playing in more than 350 career games, he averages 7.5 points, 3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

In his prior stop with the Hornets, he averaged a career-high 11.6 points per game and had career-highs in rebounds (4.3) and assists (2.6), as well.

Brown could see the Hornets streak through the Western Conference this past season coming. It was just a matter of everything coming together.

“Everybody is healthy,” Brown said. “That’s just the biggest issue. They’ve done a great job of bringing players in, it’s just a matter of having them all at the same time. They were able to do that last year and you were able to see what kind of product they were able to put out there.”

Terms of Browns contract weren’t disclosed by the Hornets.