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Woj firecracker:
Minnesota is waiving guard John Lucas today, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) January 7, 2017
This appears to primarily be a move to avoid guaranteeing the rest of his salary for this year, which would have happened had he remained on the roster past today. Why this matters to the Wolves is unclear, since they are well below the salary cap, but there you have it.
It also opens up a roster spot which hopefully they will look to fill. We’ve discussed adding one of the three point shooting wings now available, Hollis Thompson, recently waived by the Sixers, or Mike Dunleavy, who was traded to the Hawks in the Kyle Korver deal, but is unlikely to stay in Atlanta.
More likely we see the Wolves bring someone in on a ten day contract at some point in the near future.
In short, don’t read too much into this, it does not appear to be a move that signals another specific move, though we’ll see what happens in the coming days.
Lucas III was a surprising addition to the roster given that the Wolves had three other point guards with guaranteed deals, and he hardly played, appearing in five games for a total of 11 minutes this season.
Hopefully the Wolves can find a better use for the roster spot.