The Toronto Raptors announced Friday they have signed free-agent point guard John Lucas III. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed.
Lucas averaged career bests of 7.5 points, 2.2 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 14.8 minutes in a career-high 49 games with Chicago last season. He shot .393 from three-point range (27th in the NBA) and .875 at the charity stripe. He paced the Bulls in scoring six times and in assists on five occasions. He scored in double figures in 15 outings, including four games of 20-or-more points. He tallied a career-high 25 points in a career-best 46 minutes January 11 versus Washington. He equaled his career-high scoring outing with 25 points in the season finale, April 26 versus Cleveland. .
Lucas has averaged 5.0 points, 1.4 assists and 11.1 minutes in 111 career regular season games. In seven career playoff outings, he has contributed 6.1 points, 1.3 assists and 14.6 minutes.
Lucas, 5-foot-11, 165 pounds, played overseas from 2007-10. He appeared in 40 games with the Shanghai Dongfang Sharks in the 2009-10 season where he contributed 27.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 42.3 minutes in 40 games.
In 2008-09, Lucas split his time between Colorado in the NBA D-League and Spain’s Tau Ceramica. In the 2007-08 campaign, Lucas played for Benetton Treviso in Italy.
Lucas began his NBA career with the Houston Rockets (2005-07). He played in 47 contests in the 2006-07 season and 13 games in 2005-06.
Lucas finished his collegiate career at Oklahoma State after two seasons at Baylor. He was an All-Big 12 First Team selection as a junior and senior. He averaged 16.3 points and 4.3 assists in 68 games at Oklahoma State.
Lucas is the son of John Lucas, Jr., former first overall pick of the Rockets in 1976.