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Report: John Lucas III ditches Lakers workout to sign in China

Russ Isabella / USA Today Sports

First, he was signed by the Washington Wizards. Then, he was set to audition for the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, John Lucas III is eschewing the NBA altogether.

It's been a strange couple of weeks for the 31-year-old guard, who was waived by the Wizards in October just four days after they signed him. Reports had him trying out for the Lakers this week, but Lucas is instead opting to sign a lucrative deal in China, ESPN's Marc Stein reports.

And so continues Lucas's crazy journeyman path.

Undrafted out of Oklahoma State in 2005, Lucas leveraged a D-League stint to catch on with the Houston Rockets. He then split time between multiple D-League teams, two Italian teams, a Spanish team and the Shanghai Sharks in China before landing with the Chicago Bulls in 2010-11. From there, he spent parts of the last four years with Chicago, Toronto and Utah.

In 216 career NBA games, the shoot-first Lucas averaged 4.8 points and 1.4 assists in 12.2 minutes.

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