Former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award winner and native New Yorker Lamar Odom begins his run with the Knicks in earnest this week when he is expected to report to the team's facility to commence summer training.
"He's coming to town this week," team president of basketball operations and the man who signed the veteran forward Phil Jackson told ProBasketballTalk.com. "We know he's a really good basketball player.
Jackson and Odom previously spent several seasons in L.A. together, where they won back-to-back titles with the Lakers beginning in 2009 and Odom claimed his Sixth Man award in 2011.
Since then, it's been a rocky road for Odom, as he's averaged just five points and five rebounds in back to-back seasons with the Mavericks and Clippers. Dogged by rumors of substance abuse and a messy breakup with reality TV wife Khloe Kardashian, Odom was out of the league all of last year, briefly playing overseas before returning to the States after suffering various injuries.
Knicks set to sign Lamar Odom?
"He wants to put himself back together, and he has a chance to do that by having the whole summer to work at it and getting himself back in basketball condition to play," said Jackson. "He told me that's what he wants to do. Having a relationship with him. It's a pretty good risk-reward situation for us.''
A 14-year veteran, the deal Odom signed with the Knicks is rumored to be non-guaranteed, meaning the Knicks minimized virtually all their risks in taking a shot on the veteran forward.
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