<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">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, Lucas 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 a while, 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 a 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." But until then, 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 was a member of the Rockets. Now, he has the chance to be something more ? a Rockets player. </div> Source
He could bring an Andre Barrett-like presence to the team, although I concur in that his size is a problem on defense and once Alston gets back, there won't really be a need for Lucas. Thing with these young guys though is that you never know what they can do. They could play off adrenaline and give you 15 points in their first game, then average 3 for the next week,
