July 11, 2007, 1:53AM Summer league is not for Lucas Rockets also may not be part of guard's plans Summer league has been good to John Lucas III. For a week last summer, he was a star. He had the ball in his hands, all the shots he could want, and soon, a three-year contract with the Rockets, the team for which his father had starred and he had been a ball boy. The Rockets wanted him to reprise last summer's performance, particularly with a new coaching staff and offense to learn. Lucas, however, preferring to stick to his training routine, decided to go another way. And with the Rockets seemingly overloaded at his position, he sounds ready to keep going. Looking elsewhere "I want to go somewhere I'll have the opportunity and a shot to play," Lucas said. "We have a lot of point guards: Mike James, Rafer Alston, myself and Aaron (Brooks). That's a lot of competition. I don't mind competition. I'm looking forward to next year. I'm looking forward to playing. If they move me, I'll go to another team and contribute any way I can. "We're talking to try to see what's best for me. It is a business. I want to play. Last year, I was miserable. It's a situation I had never been in. I never stayed on the bench before. I don't want to go through anything like last year. I'm waiting for my chance. I just want to play. That's my whole thing." Asked if he had requested a trade or to be waived (which, unless he were picked up, would require the Rockets to pay him the $770,610 guaranteed on his contract), Lucas said: "I just want to play. "I don't know what's going on. Right now, I'm a Houston Rocket. They deal with my agent. I have to take care of what I have to do on the court. I have not taken a day off since the season ended. When we lost Game 7 (to the Utah Jazz), I went to work the next day and have been in the gym every day since." Because he has lived in the gym so long, Lucas chose not to leave it to start over in another gym. The Rockets, however, wanted to have him work with their coaches, and when they announced their summer league team, he was on it. "The communication wasn't very good," general manager Daryl Morey said. "David (Falk, Lucas' agent) probably thinks I dropped the ball. We spoke about him spending a week in summer league. "He said he thought it wasn't a good idea. I said I thought it was. We got up to that point (the team was announced). We can't reach John. David calls the day before (summer practices began) and said, 'He's out.' "I guess when he said he didn't think it was a good idea, that meant he wasn't coming." Lucas, as a third-year player, had the option to play or not play in summer league. The Rockets could have demanded that Vassilis Spanoulis, a rookie last season, play, but chose not to take that step. But because two of their young point guards are not participating, they added one Tuesday. With Spanoulis out, the Rockets brought in Luis Flores, the player they drafted to trade for Spanoulis during the second round of 2004. Improving at home Lucas hoped by sitting out the summer league, he would improve as much as when he played in it. "You usually only play two years of summer league," Lucas said. "You play if you're not on a team or trying to make another team. I'm under contract for two years, a year guaranteed. I feel, individually, I need to get stronger and get better. "I can fit in any system. I'm a quick learner. I can fit in in a day. "Playing every day against NBA players like T.J. Ford, Earl Watson, Steve Francis and Damon Stoudamire, working with Sam Cassell, to me I feel will make me better." Whether that will be with the Rockets remains to be seen. jonathan.feigen@chron.com http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4958536.html
I think its more him giving the Rockets the green light to deal him. He isn't being disrespectful or wild. I don't see any of this as negative.
Not like he's gonna get any significant time other than garbage time in any other team in the NBA. If he wants to shine, go to the NBDL or another league in another continent. I think he's just a waste of roster space.. the only reason I see him in a team is to be in their practice squad to be pushed around by the regular starters of that team. Sorry JL3 this is just how the business works.
After his sorry performance last year during the regular season, he is the last person that should be in a position to sulk or demand anything. It's ridiculous that he refuses to play in the summer league. Who does he think he is?
mike james? jl3 should just needs to thank his father for getting him an nba contract and be happy with warming the bench for the 7 point guards ahead of him.
actually, i think he's right. the summer league is for players that want to make a team or rookies that haven't shown anything. he has dominated the summer league last year and besides determing his position in the rotation it had no worth. at home he can work individually on his weaknesses. that wouldn't be possible on the summer league squad. plus, the competition in houston's non-official summer league is probably a lot better than the competition in the official. overall his reaction seems understandable. he does what he thinks is the best for him. he knows that it will be difficult for him on the rockets. and you can't blame him as a team when you draft a guy that is exactly a clone of himself to be his replacement. lucas should be traded. and everyone knows that.
Send him on a package with Surra, and others..(not battier)... its whats best.. for him and the Rox......
Aaron Brooks had better be the second coming of Bob Cousy. John Lucas III seems to be the very same player. I can't blame JL3 for feeling the way he does. With the deck stacked the way it is, it doesn't take a genius to read those cards. The Rockets once was a desirable destination for players. Now we are a rapidly declining neighborhood. Sad.
JVG's tight rotation and lack of trust in the unproven caused the neighborhood's decline. It's up to RA to make it shine again.
Every summer we sign a ton of below par players to the team, only to find out very soon into the season that they don't deserve a single minute. Is it that difficult to evaluate talents? Someone on the previous management and coaching team must have really sucked bad at evaluating talents. I mean, JVG had all those praises for VSpan. I remember JVG saying things like: I don't see how VSpan cannot be a good player in this league.
