Some guys get to the league and don’t get to stay very long. Some guys are Lamar Odom.
In what might be perhaps the greatest cup of coffee in league history, the Knicks are preparing to sign Lamar Odom ahead of tonight’s game against the Nets to play in the final two games of the season.
That is right, a non-Playoff team is signing a free agent for just two games.
Sure, it is possible the Knicks are looking to sign Odom to some complicated, pro-rated multi-year deal that will keep him in New York beyond the end of the season. Somehow that does not seem to be the smartest first signing for Phil Jackson and the Knicks.
The thought according to Marc Stein of ESPN is that Odom would get an unguaranteed second year and he would be part of the Knicks’ summer workouts. New York would hope to reform him back into the player he was by keeping a close eye on him.
Odom was out of the NBA this year and struggled to make his way in Spain. Reports that he was overweight and on drugs dogged him this year and the league stayed far, far away. He was a shell of himself with the Clippers in 2013.
So how much does Odom have left?
That is a really difficult question to answer. He just has not played at a high level anywhere this season. The Knicks are taking a humongous risk by bringing him in and it smacks of Phil Jackson doing a favor to a former favorite player. Odom is not someone that seems able to contribute to a championship team anymore. That is what the Knicks ultimately would expect.
So this just seems like some kind of strange publicity to get.
It is not strange to see players jump in for that final game.
Dana Barros went from team executive to scoring six points in 11 minutes in Boston’s finale in 2004. There are several teams that bring on players for random reasons at the end of the year — whether they be injuries or what have you.
The Knicks do not seem to be in that spot. They are outside the Playoffs and licking their wounds (embarrassingly in many ways) these final two games.
So enjoy your moment Lamar Odom. And good riddance to the Knicks.
