Congrats to Steve Novak!

[MarkCharles]

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=5608739

"DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks have signed free-agent forward Steve Novak.

Terms of the deal announced Thursday weren't released.

The 6-foot-10 Novak spent the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. He also played two seasons for the Houston Rockets after they drafted him in the second round in 2006. He has career averages of 4.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in 195 games.

Novak played with Dwyane Wade on Marquette's Final Four team in 2003."

Always great to see Marquette guys make it to the NBA. Whats even better is that everyone we've put in the league this decade (DWade, Diener, Lazar, Steve) has stuck and really made a nice career for themselves. I fully expect Lazar to do the same. To me, this comes down to character and work ethic, which come back to the Marquette program. This isn't just a coincidence. All these guys do Marquette proud.

[texaswarrior74]

Thank you Lord.....I've been hoping that the Mavs would have the common sense to look at him...we really need an outside shooter like Steve....now we can have Dirk AND Steve hitting from downtown.....

YES!!!!

[TomW1365]

That is good news.  Hopefully he's found a situation that will play to his strengths.  I would have liked him on the Bulls since we don't seem to have a 3 point threat.

[dwaderoy2004]

ummmm, kyle korver.  and the bulls also just signed brian scalabrine, who will fulfill novak's role of sitting at the end of the bench and playing spot minutes.  harsh, but true.

[4everwarriors]

Don't fall over high fiving each other. Someone posted previously that his contract isn't guaranteed.

[rocky_warrior]

Always great to see Marquette guys make it to the NBA. Whats even better is that everyone we've put in the league this decade (DWade, Diener, Lazar, Steve) has stuck and really made a nice career for themselves. I fully expect Lazar to do the same. To me, this comes down to character and work ethic, which come back to the Marquette program. This isn't just a coincidence. All these guys do Marquette proud.

Seems like you're missing someone in that list.  I just wish I could figure out who it wes...

[GGGG]

ummmm, kyle korver.  and the bulls also just signed brian scalabrine, who will fulfill novak's role of sitting at the end of the bench and playing spot minutes.  harsh, but true.

Yeah, you know your NBA future is in trouble when a team signs Scalabrine over you...

[texaswarrior74]

I was hoping he had signed a contract based on the previous post.  This is all that the Dalllas Morning News is saying:


"Steve Novak, a 6-10 forward who has been in the NBA the last four seasons, will be joining the Mavericks as a training camp invitee.

Novak was the 32nd overall pick in the 2006 draft by Houston. He played two seasons with the Rockets and has been with the Los Angeles Clippers the last two seasons. The former Marquette standout averaged 6.9 points in 2008-09, when he knocked in 41 percent of his 3-point shots.

The 27-year-old played just 54 games for the Clippers last season.

The Mavericks are looking for a backup to Dirk Nowitzki who plays a similar style, which Novak does.

--Eddie Sefko"

Not a contract....they're just looking at him....

[MarkCharles]

Seems like you're missing someone in that list.  I just wish I could figure out who it wes...

Yea I am. As I was making the list I had the sneaking suspicion I was leaving someone off.

My apologies to Mr. Matthews, as fine an example of MU basketball as anyone.

[Avenue Commons]

Yeah, you know your NBA future is in trouble when a team signs Scalabrine over you...

Novak has a unique skill set. The problem is his height isn't to his advantage defensively or hitting the offensive boards. His great shooting stroke combined with his height makes him almost one of a kind. With the right team he could play 10 years in the NBA. Problem is finding a spot on the right team.

I still think he would have been great on the Bulls, or any other team that has a "penetrate and kick" PG running the show.

[Mr. Nielsen]

I hope the Mavs gives him some playing time.

[Desert_warrior]

Kinda sounds like they signed Steve and not just to camp. http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=5608739

[foreverwarriors]

@muathletics also tweeted earlier today that the Mavs had officially announced the signing of Steve.

[Mobot]

They signed him to a non-guaranteed contract. 

He still has to make the 15 man roster. 

There are 13 players signed to guaranteed contracts and an additional 4 players signed to non-guaranteed contracts. 

That means that Steve will be competing against 3 other players for the final 2 spots on the Mavericks' roster.

[avid1010]

Yea I am. As I was making the list I had the sneaking suspicion I was leaving someone off.

My apologies to Mr. Matthews, as fine an example of MU basketball as anyone.

Not so sure I'd say Diener was able to "stick" in the NBA either...although it sounds like he could have hung around had he wanted to. 

Hope Novak is able to make the team.  Who are the three guys he's competing with for the two spots?  I'd have to think Cuban is very capable of making a move that would alter that current reality as well.  Hope it all works out for Steve.

[martyconlonontherun]

They signed him to a non-guaranteed contract. 

He still has to make the 15 man roster. 

There are 13 players signed to guaranteed contracts and an additional 4 players signed to non-guaranteed contracts. 

That means that Steve will be competing against 3 other players for the final 2 spots on the Mavericks' roster.

Who are the guaranteed spots?
Shamsports has them at 15 and they are pretty legit when coming to contracts. What players on this list aren't guaranteed. Not doubting you, just curious.
http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/mavericks.jsp

[HouWarrior]

Hoopsworld.com current Dallas roster, with Buckner salary as "player option", and Novak as "not guaranteed"....the rest (13), shown as guaranteed:

Dirk Nowitzki $17,278,618    
Tyson Chandler $12,600,000          
Caron Butler $10,811,960          
Jason Terry $10,373,000        
Jason Kidd $8,500,000 $8,500,000        
Shawn Marion $7,154,950      
Brendan Haywood $6,900,000
DeShawn Stevenson $4,151,786          
Jose Juan Barea $1,749,600          
Alexis Ajinca $1,467,840        
Roddy Beaubois $1,156,080      
Dominique Jones $1,110,120    
Greg Buckner* $1,064,516          
Steve Novak $915,852          
Ian Mahinmi $884,293

mavericks.realgm.com has this as current training camp roster:

Ajinca, Alexis  7' 0" 220
Barea, Jose  6' 0" 175
Beaubois, Rodrigue  6' 2" 182 
Butler, Caron  6' 7" 228 
Calathes, Nick  6' 6" 195
Chandler, Tyson  7' 1" 235 
Foster, Shan  0' 0" 0 
Haywood, Brendan  7' 0" 263
Jones, Dominique  6' 4" 0 
Kidd, Jason  6' 4" 210
Logan, Steve  0' 0" 0   
Mahinmi, Ian  6' 10" 230 
Marion, Shawn  6' 7" 228 
Nivins, Ahmad  6' 9" 242 
Novak, Steve  6' 9" 216
Nowitzki, Dirk  7' 0" 245
Seibutis, Renaldas  0' 0" 0 
Stevenson, DeShawn  6' 5" 210
Terry, Jason  6' 2" 180 
Thomas, Tim

[Mobot]

Who are the guaranteed spots?
Shamsports has them at 15 and they are pretty legit when coming to contracts. What players on this list aren't guaranteed. Not doubting you, just curious.
http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/mavericks.jsp

Greg Buckner is no longer on the team.

Tim Thomas is not playing this year because he is caring for his ailing wife.

[Brewtown Andy]

Who are the guaranteed spots?
Shamsports has them at 15 and they are pretty legit when coming to contracts.

I'm expected to believe that something called SHAMsports is legit?

[RawdogDX]

Not so sure I'd say Diener was able to "stick" in the NBA either...although it sounds like he could have hung around had he wanted to. 

I'd say he was able to stick.  He was a 2nd round draft pick.  Played his way onto a team, had a 5 year career, started 20+ games, scored around 850 points, and had a 4::1 ast/to ratio.  That is a decent career in a league where there are 100 new guys trying to take your job every year. 

More success than 99% of 2nd round picks. Half of those never suit up for a single game.  (those stats were made up, ones about TD were not)

[MarkCharles]

Not so sure I'd say Diener was able to "stick" in the NBA either...although it sounds like he could have hung around had he wanted to. 

Hope Novak is able to make the team.  Who are the three guys he's competing with for the two spots?  I'd have to think Cuban is very capable of making a move that would alter that current reality as well.  Hope it all works out for Steve.

If Travis Diener doesn't qualify as "sticking" to you, what does? As Rawdog said, he played five years, which is certainly longer than most NBA careers last. It is also well-established that he could have been the 3rd pg for multiple teams, but he would prefer to play more minutes so he went to Italy. So from that you can infer that he could easily stretch his career into the 7-9 year range if he so desired. He's a well-established guy in the league who wasn't living off of 10-day contracts or remaining unsigned for big stretches of his career. Thats "sticking" to me.

If you take it to mean a guy plays his entire 12 year career in the NBA or something like that, we're talking different things here....

[GOO]

Diener may be back in the NBA before he is done.  Especially if he plays okay in Italy and doesn't get injured.  But, if he likes Europe, he may want to stay there - fewer games, comparable pay at the top for a guy like Diener, less pressure, etc.

Novak may stick this year with Dallas, but if not, he may be back on a team before the year is out.

Both have met the normal career expectancy of the NBA, I believe it is 5 years (and that is for all players, not for second round picks or free agents, which is probably well under 1 year).

[sailwi]

Does anyone really know how much players of Travis' caliber make in Europe, if it is 250k that isn't bad money but it isn't the 600k or so NBA minimum.  I read so many times the money is good in Europe and it may be for a select few in the top leagues but given economics hard to believe it is above NBA minimums.

[avid1010]

If Travis Diener doesn't qualify as "sticking" to you, what does? As Rawdog said, he played five years, which is certainly longer than most NBA careers last. It is also well-established that he could have been the 3rd pg for multiple teams, but he would prefer to play more minutes so he went to Italy. So from that you can infer that he could easily stretch his career into the 7-9 year range if he so desired. He's a well-established guy in the league who wasn't living off of 10-day contracts or remaining unsigned for big stretches of his career. Thats "sticking" to me.

If you take it to mean a guy plays his entire 12 year career in the NBA or something like that, we're talking different things here....

Not a big deal...wasn't calling you out or anything like that.  I guess when I think about "sticking", I think about a full career rather than the average player that gets 3-5 and is done.  I understand that's about average, but I'd probably say the average NBA player doesn't stick or have a full career.  To me it seems players get their 3-5 to develop and if they don't offer something special their spot is given to a younger player with potential...usually resulting in another 3-5 years...  To stick you'd have to prove that after 3-5 years your current level of play is worth more than the potential of a younger player.

[martyconlonontherun]

I'm expected to believe that something called SHAMsports is legit?

If you aren't familiar with the site, they are incredibly accurate when coming to player options and other stuff. The guy must have a source at the players union or something.