Source: Houston to attempt comeback with Knicks

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

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.

Andrew Marchand is the managing editor of 1050 ESPN Radio in New York. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Source: ESPN.com