Phil Jackson expects Brandon Jennings to take home Sixth Man award

'6 man' like ... Brandon Jennings?

The New York Knicks recently signed Jennings to a one-year, $5-million deal, and team president Phil Jackson has high hopes for the point guard.

"(Jackson) said he expects me to be Sixth Man of the Year," Jennings said Friday, according to Ian Begley of ESPN. "So I'm definitely gonna embrace that role. I don't see why I can't be in that conversation, and I'm fine with it. I'm definitely fine with it."

A starter for the first six years of his career, the Compton, Calif. native was relegated to a reserve role coming off an Achilles injury suffered in January 2015. Now, he's set to be the first guard off the bench for the Knicks - and he's optimistic.

"I feel like we can compete with anybody in the East right now," the 26-year-old said. "The East did get better; the Bulls got better of course and the Cavs are still the Cavs, but I don't see why we can't be in that top-five conversation. We have the talent. The main thing is we just got to stay healthy."

Jennings will fill in for Derrick Rose, should the oft-injured starter miss time.

He averaged 6.9 points and 3.5 assists while shooting 36.8 percent from the floor and 32.9 percent from long range in 48 games split between the Pistons and Magic in 2015-16.