Allan Houston is expected to announce his comeback with the Knicks in the next 24 hours, a source told 1050 ESPN New York's Andrew Marchand.

 

Houston, 36, said he wants to return to the NBA because he did not leave by choice. In 2005, Houston retired because of an arthritic left knee. He has not played a full NBA season since 2002-03, when he scored a career-high 22.5 points per game. Over the next two years, he only played 70 games.

 

"It's really like I never got to finish. You ever been cut off in midsentence and never been able to finish what you were saying? It feels like I get to finish now ... Of course I want to win, but this quest to me is more about being able to play again while I still can," Houston said in a recent interview with ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard.

 

Houston said he still believes he can make an impact in the NBA.

 

"I believe I can still have an impact on the game. A lot of my friends and people are saying, 'You should go for three more years if you feel good!' I'm just thinking about this year right now. If things go like I think they will, playing longer would be something to think about," he said.

 

Houston, who worked as an analyst for ESPN last season, was given a much-criticized $100 million, six-year contract extension in 2001 from the Knicks. The deal made him virtually untradeable once he began to get hurt and crippled the Knicks' ability to make moves because of salary cap woes.

 

Houston averaged 17.3 points during his 12 NBA seasons. He shot 40.2 percent from 3-point range.

 

After spending his first three seasons in Detroit, Houston signed with the Knicks, who hoped he would be the outside shooting complement they needed to Patrick Ewing.

 

Houston helped New York to an improbable spot in the 1999 NBA Finals, when his running jumper in the closing seconds of the deciding Game 5 knocked off the top-seeded Miami Heat in the first round.

 

Atleast it wont be in Miami

My thoughts exactly.

Atleast it wont be in Miami

Even if Miami wanted him (OMG), the Knicks couldn't move his bloated contract.

I guess he still has a hunger for losing.

I still cant believe people in this forum actually wanted Houston playing with the heat

f*** Allan Houston

He won't finish the year healthy

Atleast it wont be in Miami

Even if Miami wanted him (OMG), the Knicks couldn't move his bloated contract.

 

 

 

 

I don't see him making the team this year, cause the fact is that the Knicks already have 15 guaranteed contracts on the roster (not including houston's) which i believe is for the veteran's minimum

Ding Ding Ding!

 

NEW YORK -- Allan Houston ended his comeback attempt with the New York Knicks on Saturday, saving Isiah Thomas from possibly having to cut one of the top scorers in franchise history.

 

Houston rejoined his former team late last week, two years after he was forced to retire because of chronic knee pain. However, the Knicks already had the maximum 15 players under contract, and Thomas said he only gave the 36-year-old guard an invite to camp because of his history in New York.

 

Houston's chances were even slimmer because he didn't join the team until 10 days after practices began. He cited the timing issue in his decision to walk away again.

 

"While my body and my knees, in particular, feel fine, I know what is required for me to be truly effective in the NBA again, and it involves a timing and progression that would not be fair to Isiah and the Knicks right now," Houston said in a statement released by the Knicks. "With the season opening less than two weeks away, I think it is best for the team to move on without me. I appreciate the opportunity that Isiah and the Knicks have given me, and I wish the team nothing but success."

 

Houston played only six minutes in his lone preseason appearance Wednesday at Boston, then sat out a game at New Jersey the next night.

 

Houston spent nine seasons with the Knicks and is fourth on the team's career scoring list. He said upon his return that he didn't think he would try to latch on with another team if he didn't stick with the Knicks.