Portland Trail Blazers: 25 Best Players To Play For The Trail Blazers
By Phil Watson
The Portland Trail Blazers wanted ABA All-Star Maurice Lucas badly, badly enough to send Geoff Petrie to the Atlanta Hawks to secure the No. 2 pick in the ABA Dispersal Draft in August 1976 in order to select the former Kentucky Colonels power forward.
It was a good choice. Lucas was a three-time All-Star for the Blazers, earning All-NBA honors in 1977-78 and being named All-Defensive twice.
Lucas was also part of the Blazers’ 1977 championship team, averaging 19.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 35.5 minutes per game, shooting 43.9 percent from the floor and 71.1 percent at the line in the six-game win over the
in the NBA Finals.
In February 1980, Lucas was traded with first-round picks in 1980 and 1981 to the New Jersey Nets for Calvin Natt.
He returned to the team as a veteran free agent in November 1987, with a second-round pick in 1990 sent to the Seattle SuperSonics as compensation.
Lucas retired in May 1988.
In parts of five seasons in Portland, Lucas averaged 15.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 29.7 minutes per game, shooting .461/2-for-8/.763.
Lucas averaged 15.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game as a junior at Marquette, helping the Warriors reach the national title game, before opting for the pros.
Lucas was the 14th overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 1974 NBA Draft, but opted to sign with the ABA’s Spirits of St. Louis, who had obtained his rights in the 1973 ABA undergraduate draft when they were still the Carolina Cougars.
Traded to the Colonels in December 1975, he was an ABA All-Star in 1976.
In October 1981, Lucas was sent to the New York Knicks as compensation for New Jersey signing veteran free agent Ray Williams and he was traded to the Phoenix Suns in July 1982.
An All-Star with the Suns in 1983, Lucas was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in August 1985, but was waived in September 1986.
Four days later, he was claimed off waivers by Seattle.
Lucas died from bladder cancer Oct. 31, 2010, shortly after resigning as a Trail Blazers assistant coach to attend to his health. He was 58 years old.
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