Rockets Sign John Lucas III, Josh Davis; Waive Stephen Graham

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Lee, it looks like the Rockets are floundering around, doesn't it? Running in NBDL players and hoping against all reason that they will be a "magic bullet" that will make an impact. Head has played far better than we could have reasonably expected as a rookie, but the rest of this amounts to spinning our wheels, unless there's an act of god or something. We need to make a move. Time is running out. I wouldn't have said that, probably, two weeks ago, but we're clearly on the cusp of a lost season.

 

so we now have:

deke-stro
jho-baxter
bowen-davis
tmac-head
wesley-moochie-lucas

if you ask me, graham makes more sense with this roster than lucas. why get lucas? where will his minutes come at PG? wesley, moochie, head, even tmac will all get minutes at the 1 before he sees any action. what happens when rafer gets back?

the only reason we would get him is if we are getting ready to trade wesley or moochie for someone who can't play pg.

 

You're trying to make it look like something it's not.
Bowen is no longer starting. Head has started and played around 40 minutes a game the past two nights. Bowen played 6 minutes last game. Who knows what role Josh Davis will play- I believe he's more in the Padgett role of a 4 type anyway (his rebound numbers indicate that).

Along the perimeter, TMac is playing most of the minutes at 3, and even some minutes at 4 (with a Moochie-Wes-Head 3 guard lineup). Wesley is simply getting worn out playing pseudo-PG, and having TMac take over PG responsibilities with a bad back and no supporting cast is just asking for trouble.

John Lucas makes a lot of sense for this injury-ridden team at this point. The only person on the active roster that most of us would have described as a PG is Moochie Norris, which is downright sad. While Lucas may not be a great passing PG, he has always down a tremendous job limiting turnovers, and can at least get the team into the offensive sets (aka, give the ball to TMac). It's been somewhat of an adventure doing that with Wesley/Norris/Head. Additionally, he can hit an open shot - he shot over 90% from the FT line his senior year. His NBDL experience might prove helpful, as he's had two 30+ point games- he will probably be asked to try and create some shots for himself.

Graham was waived because he was turnover prone, foul prone, hesitant on the dribble, and unable to knock down open shots. Any subsequent moves by the Rockets are purely coincidental.

 

Doesnt matters who rockets just signed or waived, JVG not gonna play them too many minutes though!

 

i feel like i should pay you for saying that. thats like quote of the year.

we will see whether he is staying next year. once all our players come back and we still play crappy..then thats the next decision to make.

 

Actually they only gave him the qualifying which was 2.5m if I'm correct. Even a Eddie House type of shooting perimeter player could have been just as good. I just think they did a poor job of using the expiring contracts they had.

 

This is a nice little read. Let's hope he's a nice little guard. Lucas faces huge odds. From the Chronicle...


Younger Lucas joins Rockets
Rookie guard follows in his father's footsteps

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

John Lucas III had spent a lifetime thinking of this day.

All those years as the little tag-along in the hallways of The Summit, all those afternoons as a precocious point guard on the court at Westside Tennis Club he imagined himself in the NBA and with one NBA team.

Then the call came, and he could barely believe it. The Rockets, overloaded with injury problems, signed Lucas on Thursday to play for the team with which his father starred, in the town in which he grew up.

"The news is great," Lucas said. "I had the biggest smile on my face of my entire life."

The Rockets presumably did not sign Lucas for that reason alone. With five players including four guards injured, they had been looking for backcourt help.

Lucas, 6-0, 180, was undrafted out of Oklahoma State and waived by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the preseason. In 14 games with the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League, Lucas averaged 15.1 points on 52.8 percent shooting and three assists.

In two seasons with Oklahoma State after transferring from Baylor, Lucas, 23, averaged 16.3 points, earning second-team All-American honors as a senior.

"It's a chance at the NBA, and it's the Rockets," Lucas said. "It's great. I always wanted to play for the Rockets since I was a little boy. That was my dream.

"It's a great opportunity for me personally, too. I'm at home, my family can come to the games. Coach (Jeff) Van Gundy can teach me a lot. To go out and play with Tracy (McGrady), Yao (Ming), (Dikembe) Mutombo, David Wesley, Bob Sura, Luther Head who I've known for awhile, those are players that will help me improve my game and show me how to carry myself away from the gym and then step on the court with business mindset."

His role with the Rockets is unclear. But at least one observer believed Lucas could help.

"He can take people to the hoop and make open shots," said his father, a 14-year NBA veteran after the Rockets selected him with the first pick of the 1976 draft and a coach with the 76ers, Spurs and Cavaliers. "He's been trained like a pro since he was a little kid. With Stromile Swift, Dikembe Mutombo and Yao Ming, if he can stay long enough, size isn't an issue with those guys.

"He is somebody to help handle the ball. Hopefully, he can give them a different look from time to time if he gets that chance."

Until then, however, the Lucases had something to celebrate.

"It''s a father-son thing for us," John Lucas said. "When he told me he was going to wear No. 15, I was excited about that. We're all excited. For 30 years, I've thought of myself as part of the Rockets family."

Now that they were back in the family, John III said there was no other number to consider. As much as he has been known as his father's son before, there was no other number to wear. It was his father's once. It's his now.

"It's been my number since I was a little bitty boy," John III said. "My father wore it and then I've worn it since YMCA basketball to college, to now. I was always around my father playing ball. I grew up around The Summit and the organization. I never thought of it at all. I never felt pressure. I'm my own individual person. I do what I'm capable of doing. I'm a very confident person. This was my dream, but now I've got to go out and play ball."

As much as Lucas might have looked forward to Thursday, in a way, he already was a member of the Rockets. Now, he has the chance to be something more — a Rockets player.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/3555514.html

 

Excuse me... may i know where is John Lucas the II??

 

You're not. m_cable is right.

Wallace signed a 3 year deal worth a reported 16 million, the 3rd year being a player option. What's more, is he wasn't happy about it - he turned down that offer earlier in hopes of getting more.

So- Wallace wouldn't have wanted to sign for the MLE with us, and Charlotte clearly would have been ok matching an offer.

Huh? Which ones? I don't recall any significant expiring contracts last year. Clarence Weatherspoon and Vin Baker are so worthless nobody's even signed them since being cut. We parlayed a trade exception last year made from our flexibility (along with Gaines and a pair of 2nd rounders) into Mike James, and then into Rafer Alston. The other two significant ones are Wesley and Moochie- are injury troubles are so great we can't even afford to trade them at this point.

Besides, expiring contracts only gain value as you approach the trade deadline.

 

Man, he grows fast. Now he's 6'0"!

 

No, they ended up making a deal. 3 years $16 million, with the 3rd year being a player option.

http://www.dfw.net/~patricia/contracts

But regardless he was still a restricted FA and we couldn't have signed him away with our MLE. So Wallace wasn't much of a option for us, unless we worked out a trade, and who really knows what Charlotte would have accepted.

 

If I'm not mistaken, he and Brevin Knight (another player talked about here) are the Bobcat captains, so I doubt either of them was going anywhere else...

 

Like his father, Lucas is a traditional point guard, potentially offering help at the position at which Bob Sura and Rafer Alston have been hurt this season.

Lucas, 5-11, 165, played for the Minnesota Timberwolves' Summer League team, but was waived during the preseason. In 14 games with the Tulsa Drillers of the NBA Development League, Lucas averaged 15.1 points on 52.8 percent shooting, and three assists.

Traditional point guard and only averages 3 assists?

In all seriousness, these are just bodies to plug in when needed. I doubt either will have a major impact.

 

I always thought he was overrated as a high school player and a college player, but what he did in the NBDL was impressive. tends to shoot a little too much but he can shoot and he can handle the ball, and Head cannot do that as much as the rockets want to try to make him a point.

 

Lucas may not be a "Traditional Point" but he is not the type of point guard that looks to score almost every time and looks for their shot. He likes to score in the flow of the game. He would always have 20-30 pt games and you wouldn't notice it. They'd be from open 3's or fastbreak layups, also he never had any really high assist games.

 

I wouldn't focus on the traditional point guard issue. What I would look at is his ball-handling skills. Can he dribble left to right with ease? Can he break down the defense with penetration? can he get the ball up court against pressure faster than Wesley, Head, or Mooch are able to? I think we know he can score, which is important for us right now, so I think he will impress in that area. Can he be better than our current guards in the other areas.. thats what will determine his fate with the Rockets.

 

His "Dad" single-handedly nearly destroyed this franchise in the 70's. While I am glad John Lucas was able to resurrect his life, I have never forgiven nor forgotten what he meant to the Rockets and how dearly his actions cost this franchise and for me that's a wound that will never heal.

As for JL cubed, I have to agree with the 610 Night Crew on this move: it really makes no sense. CD is merely following his well documented procedure of looking for help on the cheap as the 2 guys they picked up won't cost them much by the way of salary. It is most unrealistic to expect these two guys to salvage what's becoming another lost season (and haven't we all seen enough of those?).

 

From what I've seen, JLIII is not really a point guard but in actuality is a very short 2 guard. We'll have to see what he does when running the point but since this is a JVG team and he's an undrafted rookie, I expect to see very little of that happening which means more of the same old same old which isn't working.

 

Please explain this... I dont know much about this guy.

Edit: Never mind - Google to the rescue.