John Lucas III

John Lucas - 12 games, 35.9 mpg, 18.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.3 spg, 0.0 bpg, 1.6 TOpg, 42% FG, 33% 3PT, 91% FT

The team owned by Yao Ming has been employing two of his former Rockets team mates for much of the season. The Sharks started with Harris and Green, but replaced Green once Lucas became available after his release from the Chicago Bulls. Lucas has done this before; he had joined the Bulls after averaging 28/5/5 with Shanghai last year, but he didn't shoot the jumper well this season and his numbers took a hit. Harris has also done this for a while, playing a couple of years for DongGuan between 2007 and 2009 whilst waiting for an NBA comeback (which he eventually got). His rebounding average ranked second in the league, and he has already signed in Puerto Rico for some summer money.

In some additional related bookkeeping, the reason for many of the players listed in the previous list was due to the NBA's contract guarantee date. All players on NBA rosters on or after January 10th have their contracts guaranteed for the remainder of the season (future seasons are unaffected); this also includes waivers. In-season waivers are 48 hours long and do not include weekends; therefore, with the 10th of January being a Monday, players had to be waived by close of business on Wednesday 5th in order to have cleared waivers before the deadline date.

Eleven players with not fully guaranteed contracts were waived in the hours before that deadline: Steve Novak, Damien Wilkins, Jarron Collins, John Lucas III, Ime Udoka, Lester Hudson, Ronald Dupree, Brian Skinner, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Sundiata Gaines and Rodney Carney. Twenty seven unguaranteed players survived; Delonte West, Von Wafer, Brian Scalabrine, Samardo Samuels, Manny Harris, Alonzo Gee, Brian Cardinal, Melvin Ely, Gary Forbes, Jeremy Lin, Ish Smith, A.J. Price, Ike Diogu, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute, Ben Uzoh, Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, Shawne Williams, Malik Allen, Garret Siler, Patty Mills, Sean Marks, Darnell Jackson, Chris Quinn, Sonny Weems, Jeremy Evans, Cartier Martin and Hamady Ndiaye. Players with contracts who had already become guaranteed due to specific guarantee stipulations in their contracts were Sherron Collins, Derrick Brown, Josh McRoberts, Willie Warren, Derrick Caracter, Luther Head and Joey Dorsey.

John Lucas III - Lucas made it back to the NBA after a four year absence when he joined the Bulls in training camp, joining up with the coach who called him "the perfect third point guard." The Bulls cut Lucas, then brought him back midseason, but all Lucas managed in the 10 minutes that he played was to miss two very important free throws. With two roster spots open, Chicago still need a third point guard, and Tom Thibodeau's affinity for Lucas might give him the inside track should they look to add one. Then again, this point guard list is quite long.

Lucas hasn't played in the NBA since 2007, but has made the Bulls camp roster after a strong summer league performance. He averaged 18.3ppg in 3 games, shooting 71% from the three point range, and very much living up to his billing as a small shooting specialist who doesn't provide a lot other than that. One thing that counts hugely in is favour is the fact that the Bulls, for all the changes they've made this offseason, figure to be a worse three point shooting team than they were last season, no mean feat when you're talking about the team that ranked 28th in three point percentage and 29th in total makes. If he makes the team, Lucas instantly becomes the team's second best shooter behind Kyle Korver; the 25% he shot from three point range in his two seasons with the Rockets are the anomalies, not the norm.

John Lucas III - Lucas played with the Bulls in summer league, and played well. It is perhaps logical, if not destined, that he goes to training camp with the team. Lucas is largely just a shooter, and a small one at that, but also a very good one. He didn't play well in his first two NBA seasons, yet the opportunity exists for another.

- John Lucas III

John Lucas's son John Lucas went to China this year. He started out with a fight, but then quickly started owning. His team, Shanghai, are currently 1-1 against Smush Parker's Guangdong in the CBA Semi Finals. Lucas had 56 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists in the series so far.

- John Lucas: 40.5mpg, 26.9ppg, 4.0rpg, 4.6apg, 1.3fpg, 1.4spg, 0.0bpg, 48% FG, 45% 3PT, 87% FT

Lucas's points per game average ranks 7th in the CBA, as does his assist per game average. A somewhat late addition to the team, Lucas has nevertheless stepped right in and found it easy to star in his first ever CBA season. He's been remarkably consistent, peaking with a couple of back to back 40+ point performances in late February, and his three point shot is there as ever. He's no longer being paid by the Rockets, although Shanghai's owner is Yao Ming, so he's still being paid by a Rocket.

The Chinese Basketball Association season begins tonight (Saturday), and former Heat, Rockets and Thunder point guard John Lucas III welcomed it with a fight.

What the fight was about, I have no idea, and who instigated it, I have no clue. Whether John Lucas III did anything wrong is similarly unclear, as is who the rest of the people involved were. All we know about said fight is that it spawned these two hilarious pictures: