Post#13 » by Najee12 » Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:52 pm
Honestly, Maurice Lucas should have been the No. 7 Blazer over Rasheed Wallace, but in case people aren't familiar with "The Enforcer's" career in Portland ...
Even though he played only three years with Portland, I still associate Maurice Lucas with the Trail Blazers. As much as people associate Bill Walton mostly with the 1977 title, Lucas led the 1976-77 team in scoring (20.2 points per game), minutes played (2,863), field goals (632), free throws (355 of 436) and total rebounds (934, an 11.1 average).
I think Lucas' fight with Darryl Dawkins in Game 2 of the 1977 Finals became the Blazers' rallying point because it showed the upstart Blazers were not going to back down to the heavily favored Sixers. Portland won the next two games at home in blowouts, then won at Philadelphia and closed out the 76ers at home to win the series. Lucas averaged 19.7 points, 13.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in the series.
Lucas also played in the All-Star Game in all three seasons in Portland (he had four for his career). He averaged at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game in two of his three seasons and was named to the 1978 All-NBA-Defense first team, the 1978 All-NBA second team and the 1979 All-NBA-Defense second team. He also was a surprisingly good low-post passer, particularly when alternating with Walton for high-low post play.
I never agreed with Portland trading Lucas and two first-round picks to the New Jersey Nets for Calvin Natt. Although Natt became a solid player during his stay and Portland was rebuilding from Walton's injuries, I thought the Blazers gave up a lot of its identity in the process.
I nominate Geoff Petrie, who was Portland's first All-Star player.
Kevin Johnson isn't "Michael Jordan" famous ... he's "Mitch Richmond" famous