John Lucas an “emerging candidate” for Rockets head coach

The head coaching search for the Houston Rockets just took an interesting turn with Marc Stein reporting that current Rockets player development coach and former star point guard John Lucas is gaining steam as a potential hire.

Lucas had several stints with the Rockets as a player, but is perhaps most infamously known during his playing days for his troubles with drug use and the cascading effect it had on the mid-’80s Rockets, contributing to the collapse of the Ralph Sampson - Hakeem Olajuwon Twin Towers group.

Lucas was finally able to get his life on track, however, and eventually became head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, who he led to two playoff appearances in as many years, and he also coached the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers, with less success, holding a 173-258 career record.

He’s also spent plenty of time helping troubled athletes avoid the same pitfalls of fame that swallowed his playing career and runs wellness and substance abuse facilities with that goal in mind.

He’s been the player development coach for the Rockets since 2016, helping young players get acclimated to the NBA lifestyle in a constructive and healthy manner and has built good relationships with pretty much every player he’s came across, including James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

I have no doubt those guys respect Lucas and would play hard for him, but he does carry just a .401 percent career winning percentage. He’s been out of head coaching since 2003, though, so the possibility exists of better results this time with additional maturity and coaching acumen.

So what you do guys think, TDS? Yay or nay on Lucas?