National Basketball Association

Milwaukee Bucks: An Ode To Steve Novak

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:19 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jordan Treske/FanSided via Behind the Buck Pass

Now that he’s been waived as part of the team’s recent trade, we reflect on Steve Novak’s time with the Milwaukee Bucks.

When everyone was least expecting it, the Milwaukee Bucks made waves on the trade market yesterday afternoon.

As we all know by now, the Bucks acquired centers Roy Hibbert and Spencer Hawes in exchange for center Miles Plumlee.

As GM John Hammond relayed in the team’s announcement of the trade, the move opens up an abundance of flexibility by shedding Plumlee’s sizable salary off the books in favor for the inexpensive, short-term deals Hibbert and Hawes currently have.

Of course, to add both Hibbert and Hawes, the Bucks had to open a roster spot and unfortunately, Steve Novak was the victim of the move as he was placed on waivers not long after the trade broke. As a result, Novak’s time with the Bucks appears to have come to a close.

The alum of both Brown Deer high school as well as Marquette University, Novak’s arrival in Milwaukee last season injected a certain level of interest regionally in the midst of what was a disappointing season for the team last year.

Unfortunately for Novak, his time on the court in his first year with the team was cut short to three games after he suffered a sprained MCL during a late February contest with the Detroit Pistons.

Despite some speculation whether he would make his return to the team, Novak spent the majority of his time in Milwaukee rehabilitating his injury before eventually re-signing with the Bucks on a one-year deal in late August last year.

Novak, though, saw minimal playing time on the floor this year, regularly being listed as one of the team’s inactives and exclusively playing when games were out of hand. Nevertheless, Novak remained an important figure on the team’s bench and he even sported innovative fashion on the sidelines as well.

Fittingly enough, Novak’s lone (and final) three-point make came from the left corner late in the team’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves in late December (You better believe that was Steve in the corner).

Off the court, however, was where Novak made his biggest impact. He was a very worthy ambassador for the team, making regular appearances at various community events, ranging from speaking engagements to the team’s second annual block party held in early June of last year.

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In total, Novak only amassed 42 minutes during his time with the Bucks, shot 4-of-13 from the field (3-of-12 from deep) and scored 12 points. But the intention behind bringing in Novak in the first place was hardly about what he could do on the court.

From the beginning, the addition of Novak was to help provide some much needed leadership in the locker room and establish a certain camaraderie on the bench that was seemingly lost from the previous year.

Sure, perhaps his connection to the state and the area of southeastern Wisconsin played a factor, but to his credit, Novak took everything in stride playing for and representing his hometown team.

As Keith Smith of Real GM and 16 Wins A Ring points out, this might not be the last we see of Novak in a Bucks uniform if the team continues to be active ahead of the trade deadline.

So if that’s to be the case, let’s not take this as goodbye, let’s take it as a maybe we’ll see you later, Steve. *holds up boombox in the air blasting Peter Gabriel.*