[bigboydan]

Just what the Nets need. Another dime a dozen guard that is washed up.

Report: Nets close to deal with former Knicks G Houston

HACKENSACK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Allan Houston may be staying home in his return to the NBA - just not with the New York Knicks.

According to a report on NorthJersey.com, the New Jersey Nets will offer Houston a contract for the veteran's minimum salary. If his body holds up through training camp, the report said, he will be on the team this season.

Nets coach Lawrence Frank and assistant Brian Hill represented New Jersey, which was among seven teams that reportedly attended Houston's private workout at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan on Tuesday.

"You have to be very, very impressed with him wanting to play," Frank told the web site. "It's not financially motivated. He probably feels he has some unfinished business. He had a very, very good workout."

New Jersey would be a preferred spot for Houston, who most recently played for the Knicks and still lives in southern Connecticut. The two-time All-Star also has a relationship with Nets stars Jason Kidd and Vince Carter from the 2000 Olympic team, the web site reported.

A 12-year veteran, Houston was drafted by the Detroit Pistons but is best known as a sweet-shooting scorer for nine campaigns in New York - averaging a career-high 22.5 points in the 2002-03 season. But the 6-6 guard retired prior the 2005-06 season with an arthritic left knee. He averaged 11.9 points in his final campaign - the lowest output since his rookie season.

A comeback most likely is not about the money for the 36-year-old Houston, who signed a six-year, $100 million contract with the Knicks in 2001. The bloated deal crippled New York's already murky salary cap situation.

But Houston still became a popular player in New York with both the fans and the organization, which employed him as an adviser and a commentator on select Madison Square Garden telecasts after his retirement.

However, the Knicks already have 17 players for a roster that can only contain 15. The Nets will not offer Houston a guaranteed contract, leaving open the possibility that another team could do so.