Minnesota Timberwolves: 10 players you forgot played for the Wolves in the 2010s
By Ben Beecken
10 players you forgot played for the Minnesota Timberwolves: John Lucas III
John Lucas III. 8. player. 86. . Point Guard. Minnesota Timberwolves
- Played in five games with the Wolves in 2016-17
- Averaged 0.4 points and 0.2 assists per game
John Lucas III makes this list mostly because he’s a recognizable name — in part because of his father, John Lucas, the long-time player and coach, and in part because that one time LeBron James literally jumped over him like he wasn’t even there.
He’s the name on this list that played the least minutes in a Wolves uniform, but the name recognition was enough for him to make it.
Lucas was undrafted out of Oklahoma State and played the league from 2005 to 2007 for the Houston Rockets before heading overseas for three seasons. He played for Tom Thibodeau in Chicago from 2010 to 2012.
Then, Lucas managed to appear in 63 games for a 34-win Toronto Raptors squad in 2012-13. He was effectively a third-string point guard for Utah in 2013-14 and Detroit in 2014-15, and then signed with Minnesota to reunite with Thibodeau and to back-up Ricky Rubio, rookie Kris Dunn, and Tyus Jones.
Clearly, Thibs signed Lucas with the intent to transition him into a coaching role; most teams don’t have four pure point guards, but that was Lucas’ role in Minnesota.
Ultimately, he appeared in five games, all in garbage time of games that the Wolves either won or lost by at least 16 points. He didn’t see the court after Nov. 19 and was ultimately waived on Jan. 17. That fall, Lucas was added to the coaching staff as a player development coach, but he was not retained following Thibodeau’s dismissal in 2019.