Shannon Brown informed the team Thursday that he was exercising his option to terminate the final year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent.

Brown and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said this was the best time for the 6-foot-4 guard to test the free-agent market, even though the NBA is about to impose a lockout and no one knows what the future collective bargaining agreement will be.

Brown had to let the Lakers know of his decision by Thursday's deadline.

"We made the best decision for me and everybody around me," Brown said in a telephone interview. "It's an interesting time to do this because of the lockout, but I think this is the best thing for me to do right now."