Knicks Close To Signing Lamar Odom With Unguaranteed Second Year

Lamar Odom didn’t play a single game during the 2013-14 season following a rough summer punctuated by drug rumors and other off-the-court snafus that made splashy TMZ headlines. But with Odom’s former coach, Phil Jackson, taking over as the head of basketball operations for the Knicks, New York is now in negotiations to bring the embattled forward to Manhattan.

The 34-year-old Candy Man wrenched his back during a brief two-game stint in the Spanish league. Because of his condition, if he signs Wednesday, he’s unlikely to suit up during the Knicks’ finale in Toronto. Via Marc Stein of ESPN:

Sources told ESPN.com that the Knicks are on course, barring an unforeseen snag, to formally sign Odom this week in a move that would put him on their roster immediately and, more importantly, include an unguaranteed second year for next season.

Structuring the deal this way, after a tumultuous 12 months for one of Jackson’s favorite players when they worked together with the Los Angeles Lakers, would give the Knicks two months before free agency begins July 1 to get the 34-year-old into their program and start working with him.

The Knicks, sources say, would want to use the extra time to see if they can get Odom to the point, physically and mentally, where the talented but enigmatic lefty is worthy of a roster spot next season

This is the first move Jackson has really made since taking over for the Knicks. With frequent troubles seeming to follow Odom everywhere he goes, we’re not sure bringing him to the City that never sleeps is the best way for him to get over whatever demons he’s been wrestling with for the last 12 months. But, Odom played the best basketball of his career under Jackson when he was the coach of the Lakers, winning the 2011 Sixth Man of the Year award, and helping the Lakers capture back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. Jackson might be Odom’s best prospect at getting back into the league and finishing out his career on a brigher note.