John Lucas III explained

John Lucas III
Position:Assistant coach
Height Ft:5
Height In:11
Weight Lb:166
Birth Date:21 November 1982
Birth Place:Washington, D.C., US
High School:Bellaire (Bellaire, Texas)
College:
Draft Year:2005
Career Start:2005
Career End:2017
Career Number:15, 5, 9, 11
Career Position:Point guard
Coach Start:2017
Years1:2005
Team1:Tulsa 66ers
Team2:Houston Rockets
Years3:2006
Team3:Tulsa 66ers
Years4:2006
Team4:Snaidero Udine
Team5:Houston Rockets
Years6:2008
Team6:Benetton Treviso
Years7:2009
Team7:Colorado 14ers
Years8:2009
Team8:TAU Cerámica
Years9:2009–2010
Team9:Shanghai Sharks
Team10:Chicago Bulls
Years11:2011
Team11:Shanghai Sharks
Years12:
Team12:Chicago Bulls
Team13:Toronto Raptors
Team14:Utah Jazz
Years15:2014–2015
Team15:Fujian Sturgeons
Team16:Detroit Pistons
Years17:2016
Team17:Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Years18:2016
Team18:Piratas de Quebradillas
Team19:Minnesota Timberwolves
Cyears1:
Cteam1:Minnesota Timberwolves (assistant)
Cteam2:Los Angeles Lakers (assistant)
Cyears3:
Cteam3:Phoenix Suns (assistant)
Highlights:
  • CBA All-Star (2010)
  • NBA D-League champion (2009)
  • NBA D-League Second Team (2006)
  • Third-team All-AmericanAP (2004)
  • 2× First-team All-Big 12 (2004, 2005)
  • Big 12 All-Freshman Team (2002)

John Harding Lucas III (born November 21, 1982) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who recently served as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Baylor and Oklahoma State.

Early life

Born in Washington, D.C. to former NBA player and coach John Lucas II and his wife DeEdgra, Lucas lived in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania for a time as a youth. Lucas was the starting point guard on the Bellaire High School basketball team and played alongside fellow future NBA players Emeka Okafor and Lawrence Roberts. Lucas has a younger brother, Jai.[1]

He originally played collegiately at Baylor University, but transferred from there to Oklahoma State University in the wake of the 2003 Baylor basketball scandal. Lucas is noted for his winning shot against the Saint Joseph's University team that sent the 2004 Oklahoma State Cowboys to the NCAA Final Four.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2005 NBA draft, Lucas joined the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 2005 NBA Summer League. The Timberwolves also signed him to their training camp roster. During the 2005–06 NBA season, Lucas was called up by the Houston Rockets from the Tulsa 66ers in December 2005. He played 13 games for the Rockets between December and February. Lucas's call-up made him the first Tulsa 66ers player to be called up from the NBA Development League. He averaged 16.6 points in 33.2 mins per game with the 66ers.

On May 10, 2006, Lucas signed with Snaidero Udine of the Italian League, to fill the gap left by Jerome Allen, who was out for the season due to injury.

On July 28, 2006, Lucas signed with the Rockets to a three-year contract.[2] In the 2006–07 season, Lucas and the Rockets made it to the playoffs, where they lost to the Utah Jazz in the first round, in 7 games. On October 30, 2007, Lucas was one of four players cut from the Rockets' roster, prior to the commencement of the 2007–08 season.

He subsequently returned to Italian basketball, joining Benetton Treviso in January 2008. He was then later released by Treviso in March. Lucas was signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder in September 2008 but was released by them in November before playing in any NBA games for them.[3] In February 2009, he signed with the Colorado 14ers and helped them go on to win the 2008–09 D-League championship. On April 27, 2009, Lucas signed with TAU Cerámica of the Spanish ACB League for the remainder of the season.[4] [5]

On September 2, 2009, Lucas was drafted by the Maine Red Claws in the NBA Development League expansion draft.[6]

Lucas played in the 2009 NBA preseason for the Miami Heat. He played four games and averaged 7.0 points, 2.3 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game. On October 23, 2009, Lucas was waived by the Heat.

Lucas then spent the 2009–10 season with the Shanghai Sharks of the CBA.[7]

Lucas spent the 2010 NBA preseason with the Chicago Bulls but was waived on October 21. The Bulls re-signed him on November 26.[8] In his debut for the Bulls, Lucas missed two critical free throws in the final seconds of a 98–97 loss to the Denver Nuggets. He was waived on January 4, 2011, and signed with the Shanghai Sharks in China.[9] After his 2-month China stint, he returned to America and re-signed with the Bulls on March 20, 2011. On January 11, 2012, Lucas received his first-ever NBA start and achieved a career-high of 25 points, leading the Bulls in a 78–64 win over the Washington Wizards. He also played 45 minutes, made 11 of 28 field goal attempts, and had 8 assists and 8 rebounds (all career-highs).

On March 14, 2012, the Bulls hosted the Miami Heat. The Bulls were missing Derrick Rose, who was out due to a groin injury. Lucas scored 24 points and led the Chicago Bulls to a 106–102 victory over the Miami Heat.[10]

On March 21, 2012, Lucas led the Bulls to a comeback victory over the Toronto Raptors, scoring all of his 13 points in the 4th quarter.[11]

On July 27, 2012, Lucas signed with the Toronto Raptors.[12]

On July 22, 2013, Lucas signed with the Utah Jazz.[13]

On July 22, 2014, Lucas was traded, along with Erik Murphy and Malcolm Thomas, to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Carrick Felix, a 2015 second round draft pick and cash considerations.[14] On September 25, 2014, he was traded, along with Erik Murphy, Dwight Powell, Malcolm Thomas and the Cavaliers' 2016 and 2017 second-round picks, to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Keith Bogans and two future second-round picks.[15] Four days later, he was waived by the Celtics.[16]

On October 21, 2014, Lucas signed with the Washington Wizards.[17] Four days later, he was waived by the Wizards.[18] On November 21, 2014, he signed with the Fujian Sturgeons for the rest of the 2014–15 CBA season.[19] His final game for Fujian came on January 30, 2015, and left China having averaged 26.3 points, 7.0 assists and 4.6 rebounds over 28 games.[20] On February 2, he signed a 10-day contract with the Detroit Pistons.[21] On February 12, he signed a second 10-day contract with the Pistons.[22] On February 25, he signed with the Pistons for the rest of the season.[23]

On September 28, 2015, Lucas signed with the Miami Heat.[24] However, he was later waived by the Heat on October 24 after appearing in one preseason game.[25] [26] On January 14, 2016, Lucas was acquired by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League.[27] One day later, he made his debut in a 109–104 loss to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, recording 21 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and three steals in 32 minutes of action.[28] On March 6, he was waived by the Mad Ants after averaging 17.7 points per game in 18 games.[29] On March 17, he signed with Piratas de Quebradillas of the Puerto Rican League.[30]

On September 26, 2016, Lucas signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.[31] On January 7, 2017, he was waived by the Timberwolves after appearing in five games.[32]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|-| align="left" | | align="left" | Houston| 13 || 0 || 8.2 || .389 || .222 || .000 || .4 || .9 || .4 || .0 || 2.3|-| align="left" | | align="left" | Houston| 47 || 0 || 8.1 || .397 || .254 || .789 || .8 || .7 || .4 || .0 || 3.3|-| align="left" | | align="left" | Chicago| 2 || 0 || 5.0 || .333 || .000 || .000 || .0 || .5 || .0 || .0 || 1.0|-| align="left" | | align="left" | Chicago| 49 || 2 || 14.8 || .399 || .393 || .875 || 1.6 || 2.2 || .4 || .0 || 7.5|-| align="left" | | align="left" | Toronto| 63 || 0 || 13.1 || .386 || .377 || .720 || 1.0 || 1.7 || .4 || .0 || 5.3|-| align="left" | | align="left" | Utah| 42 || 6 || 14.1 || .326 || .298 || .625 || .9 || 1.0 || .3 || .0 || 3.8|-| align="left" | | align="left" | Detroit| 21 || 0 || 13.0 || .404 || .310 || 1.000 || .8 || 2.9 || .4 || .0 || 4.7|-| align="left" | | align="left" | Minnesota| 5 || 0 || 2.2 || .250 || .000|| .000 || .0 || 0.2 || .4 || .0 || 0.4|- class="sortbottom"| align="center" colspan="2"| Career| 242 || 8 || 12.1 || .383 || .344 || .768 || 1.0 || 1.5 || .4 || .0 || 4.7

Playoffs

|-| align="left" | 2007| align="left" | Houston| 2 || 0 || 4.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || .0 || .0 || .5 || .0 || 0.0|-| align="left" | 2012| align="left" | Chicago| 5 || 0 || 18.8 || .450 || .385 || 1.000 || 1.4 || 1.8 || .0 || .0 || 8.3|- class="sortbottom"| align="center" colspan="2"| Career| 7 || 0 || 14.6 || .439 || .397 || 1.000 || 1.0 || 1.3 || .1 || .0 || 6.1

Coaching career

On September 21, 2017, the Minnesota Timberwolves announced additions to their coaching staff for the 2017–18 season while Lucas was named as Player Development Coach.[33]

On September 15, 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that they had hired Lucas as assistant coach.[34] On June 7, 2022, he was let go as new Lakers coach Darvin Ham formed his staff.[35]

On June 17, 2023, it was reported that Lucas was hired as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns under head coach Frank Vogel.[36] The hiring, alongside the rest of the Suns' newest coaching staff, was made official on June 21, 2023. Lucas would later be fired alongside the rest of Frank Vogel's coaching staff (outside of David Fizdale) on May 12, 2024 following the replacement of Vogel with Mike Budenholzer.[37]

Notes and References

  1. News: Franz. Beard. RELOADING! JAI LUCAS WILL BE A GATOR. GatorCountry.com. May 14, 2007. May 14, 2007.
  2. News: Fran. Blinebury. Rockets seal Lucas deal. Chron.com. July 29, 2006. July 29, 2006.
  3. News: Oklahoma City Thunder waives John Lucas. NewsOK.com. November 3, 2008. November 3, 2008.
  4. News: TAU Ceramica signs John Lucas . TakBasket.com . April 27, 2009 . April 27, 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090430101549/http://www.talkbasket.net/news/tau-ceramica-signs-john-lucas.html . April 30, 2009 .
  5. News: EL TAU Cerámica ficha a John Lucas. Baskonia.com. April 27, 2009. April 27, 2009. es. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120314112021/http://www.baskonia.com/es/noticias_general.asp?id_noticia=1953. March 14, 2012.
  6. Web site: James White First Draft Pick in Red Claws' History. OurSportsCentral.com. September 2, 2009. January 7, 2017.
  7. News: Sharks get another victory as Yao cheers them on. YaoMingMania.com. December 27, 2009. December 27, 2009. August 28, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220828084730/http://www.yaomingmania.com/blog/2009/12/27/sharks-get-another-victory-as-yao-cheers-them-on. dead.
  8. News: BULLS SIGN GUARD JOHN LUCAS III . NBA.com . November 26, 2010 . November 26, 2010 . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20121111070623/http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/lucas_signed_101126.html . November 11, 2012 .
  9. News: Pickett, Lucas III and Crawford land in China. Sportando.com. January 4, 2011. January 4, 2011.
  10. News: Lucas III sparks Rose-less Bulls to win over Heat. USA Today. The Associated Press. March 15, 2012. March 21, 2012.
  11. News: Roundup: Lucas rallies Bulls past Raptors. USA Today. The Associated Press. March 21, 2012. March 21, 2012.
  12. News: Raptors Sign Free-Agent Guard John Lucas III. NBA.com. July 27, 2012. July 27, 2012.
  13. News: Jazz Signs Free-Agent Guard John Lucas III. NBA.com. July 22, 2013. July 22, 2013.
  14. News: Cavaliers Acquire John Lucas III, Malcolm Thomas and Erik Murphy from Utah. NBA.com. July 22, 2014. July 22, 2014.
  15. News: Boston Celtics Announce Roster Moves. NBA.com. September 25, 2014. September 25, 2014.
  16. News: Celtics Sign Evan Turner. NBA.com. September 29, 2014. September 29, 2014.
  17. News: WIZARDS SIGN JOHN LUCAS. NBA.com. October 21, 2014. October 21, 2014.
  18. News: Wizards waive James, Lucas, Silas. BasketballInsiders.com. October 25, 2014. January 7, 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170108191728/https://www.basketballinsiders.com/wizards-waive-james-lucas-silas/. January 8, 2017.
  19. News: Fujian Quanzhou Bank signing John Lucas. Sportando.com. November 21, 2014. November 21, 2014.
  20. Web site: John Harding LUCAS III - Season 2014/2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150213210423/http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/gameCent/p/leagueid/CHN/ot/1/pid/6034138/season/2015/tid/6025012/playerView.html. dead. February 13, 2015. FIBA.com. February 2, 2015.
  21. News: Detroit Pistons Sign John Lucas III To A 10-Day Contract. NBA.com. February 2, 2015. February 2, 2015.
  22. News: Detroit Pistons Sign John Lucas III to Second 10-Day Contract. NBA.com. February 12, 2015. February 12, 2015.
  23. News: Detroit Pistons Sign John Lucas III For Remainder Of The Season. NBA.com. February 25, 2015. February 25, 2015.
  24. News: HEAT Signs John Lucas III and Tre Kelley. NBA.com. September 28, 2015. September 28, 2015.
  25. Web site: HEAT Waive Five Players. NBA.com. October 24, 2015. October 24, 2015.
  26. News: Ira . Winderman . Heat cut five, roster down to 15-player regular-season limit . South Florida Sun Sentinel . October 24, 2015 . October 24, 2015 . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20160909055146/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/sfl-miami-heat-nba-roster-s102415-story.html . September 9, 2016 .
  27. Web site: Kara. Stevenson. Mad Ants Acquire John Lucas III. NBA.com. January 14, 2016. January 14, 2016. March 7, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307101515/http://fortwayne.dleague.nba.com/news/1826/. dead.
  28. Web site: Skyforce Edge Mad Ants. NBA.com. January 16, 2016. January 15, 2016. May 28, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160528183353/http://dleague.nba.com/games/20160115/FWNSXF/. dead.
  29. Web site: Mad Ants Waive John Lucas III. OurSportsCentral.com. March 6, 2016. March 6, 2016.
  30. Web site: Quebradillas suma dos nuevos piratas. ElNuevoDia.com. March 17, 2016. April 9, 2016. es.
  31. Web site: TIMBERWOLVES ANNOUNCE 2016-17 TRAINING CAMP ROSTER. NBA.com. September 26, 2016. September 26, 2016.
  32. Web site: TIMBERWOLVES WAIVE JOHN LUCAS III. NBA.com. January 7, 2017. January 7, 2017.
  33. News: TIMBERWOLVES ANNOUNCE COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS. NBA.com. September 21, 2017. September 21, 2017.
  34. News: Lakers Announce Additions to Coaching and Training Staffs. September 15, 2021. NBA.com. September 15, 2021.
  35. News: Assistant Coaches David Fizdale, Mike Penberty, John Lucas III Let Go by Lakers . July 21, 2022.
  36. News: Phoenix Suns are adding South Bay Lakers head coach Miles Simon…. June 17, 2023.
  37. Web site: Voita . John . 2024-05-12 . Remaining coaching assistants will not be retained by Mike Budneholzer . 2024-05-30 . Bright Side Of The Sun . en.