Landen Lucas the latest Jayhawk to land NBA Summer League spot

By Matt Tait     Jun 29, 2019

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Kansas senior center Landen Lucas walks out onto the floor at the BOK Center ahead of Sunday's game against Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

With his stint on team “Self Made” set for late July, former Kansas big man Landen Lucas found something to keep him busy during the early portion of the month that also will help whip him back into playing shape.

Lucas on Saturday announced on Twitter that he will join the Atlanta Hawks’ summer squad next month in Las Vegas.

The NBA’s Summer League is slated to run July 5-15 and will feature a handful of former Jayhawks.

Lucas is a veteran of the Summer League scene, having played for the Boston Celtics during his first summer out of college before heading to Japan to begin his professional career.

The Hawks, with Trae Young, John Collins and recent draft pick Jaxson Hayes, of Texas, are one of the more exciting young teams on the rise in the NBA. They also have room to make a splash in free agency in their attempt to rebuild the franchise into a contender.

Lucas will join Elijah Johnson, Travis Releford, Mario Little, Darrell Arthur, Tyshawn Taylor, Kevin Young, Jeremy Case, Travis Releford and Darnell Jackson on the all-KU-alumni squad participating in The Tournament, a winner-take-all, $2-million, 64-team bracket that will open play in late July in Wichita.

As for the rest of the former KU players currently known to be participating in the NBA’s Summer League, Dedric Lawson will play for Golden State, Lagerald Vick will play for Houston, Thomas Robinson joined the San Antonio squad, Malik Newman will play with Cleveland and Svi Mykhailiuk, who lit the league on fire last summer with the Los Angeles Lakers, will play for the Detroit Pistons, who traded for the former KU sharp-shooter midway through his rookie season.

**Thompson enjoys visit**

Class of 2020 guard Bryce Thompson, who owns a 5-star rating and is one of the top players in his class, was in town this week to make an unofficial visit to Kansas.

Thompson, a 6-foot-4, play-making guard with good size and great vision, was in town from his hometown of Tulsa, Okla., on Thursday, when he met with the KU coaching staff, toured the campus and basketball facilities and gathered more information about how he might fit into KU’s future.

“Had a great visit at KU,” Thompson Tweeted. “Thanks to Coach Self and the Jayhawk staff for being wonderful hosts. #RockChalk.”

Thompson’s recruitment is wide open and he is expected to visit several schools and take a thorough look at all of his options before making a decision.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.