National Basketball Association

Milwaukee Bucks: Grades/Reactions For The Steve Novak Deal

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Now that he’s officially been signed, did the Milwaukee Bucks do well by making veteran forward Steve Novak their 15th man?

Oct 13, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz forward Steve Novak (16) warms up prior to the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at EnergySolutions Arena. The Jazz won 102-89. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

It was no surprise to any Milwaukee Bucks fans who keep an eye on Bucks rumors, but on Monday night the team made it official and signed veteran forward Steve Novak to a contract, making him the 15th Buck under contract for the 2016-17 NBA season.

There are a few things to keep in mind when judging this signing. We’ll get to detailed grades and reactions later, but remember that Novak is Milwaukee’s 15th man.

That means it might be a little dramatic to really get up in arms about this signing. A 15th man doesn’t get many minutes–some teams even roll with 14 at first during the regular season for more trade flexibility later.

Although the NBA roster holds 15, only 12 can be active on any given day. So Novak probably isn’t going to see 15 minutes per game off the bench–he’s depth and veteran leadership.

Plus he brought a beautiful family to Milwaukee, which should count for something. Okay, time to be serious. Let’s look at the pros and cons of signing Novak, as well as his expected salary and fit with the team. Then we’ll end with the final grade his signing gets.

So grateful to be a part of the team I loved growing up! Honored to get to represent this great state of WI! @Bucks pic.twitter.com/yWIkoXpQzB

— STEVE NOVAK (@stevenovak16) August 29, 2016

Next: Pros

Pros

Steve Novak grew up in Brown Deer and attented Marquette University, so seeing him get to realize a life-long dream and suit up for the Milwaukee Bucks is pretty cool.

After Novak’s time with Milwaukee was tragically cut short to just 20 minutes last season, it’ll be nice for him to get to spend a whole season with the Bucks.

Novak’s best on-court trait is his three-point shooting, which has stayed consistent even when his minutes haven’t. Novak made 46.7 percent of his threes last season, and has made 43.1 of his long-range attempts over his ten season career.

If the Bucks needed somebody that could shoot and only shoot, Novak is their man. He won’t do much else on the floor–over his career he’s taken 8.5 three-pointers compared to just 2.4 two-pointers per 36 minutes, and all six of Novak’s shots taken with the Milwaukee Bucks are threes.

Finally, Novak has been around the block. He’s got experience on lots of different teams, some of which he can hopefully impart on his younger teammates. Plus Novak has no delusions of grandeur–he’s not going to sit around and gripe about his minutes anytime soon (or ever).

Cons

It seems as though the days of Steve Novak being a productive bench player in the NBA could be over. His minutes per game have dropped steadily since 2012-13, which was Novak’s best-ever season.

He averaged 20.3 minutes per game that year, and played in 81 games. Next year with Toronto, Novak averaged 10.0 minutes per game and played in just 54 contests.

He split time between Utah and Oklahoma City in his next season, and averaged 5.6 minutes per game in the 34 games he entered. Finally, last season Novak averaged 4.4 minutes per game and only got into 10 contests in his time with the Thunder and the Bucks.

One would think a knock-down shooter like Novak would find some time with teams in the modern NBA, but his defense holds him back from getting major minutes. Novak has never been a plus defender as per defensive box plus/minus, and he’s contributed just 3.4 wins to his teams on defense over 10 years (compared to the 11.1 he added on the other end).

Novak is hardly ancient, but his lack of defense and most offensive skills aside from three-point shooting makes it hard for coaches to keep him in games for long. He can shoot, but that’s about all he’ll add to the Bucks on the floor.

Salary

It’s tough to find many problems with Steve Novak’s contract if he truly is just making the veteran minimum salary. That comes out to something like $1.55 million this season, which is an affordable deal for a skilled shooter, even one who can’t do much else.

The contract information hasn’t been quite released yet–teams never disclose these things–but it’s a pretty safe bet to assume that’s all that Novak is getting from the Bucks. The team would have to use an exception to sign him any other way, since Milwaukee is over the salary cap already.

Interestingly enough, Milwaukee will actually be reimbursed for the contract, as long as it’s for just this season. According to Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ, the NBA works to ensure teams won’t avoid signing older (and thus more expensive) players by covering some of their contract.

When a player has been in the NBA for three or more seasons, and is playing under a one-year, 10-day or Rest-of-Season contract at the minimum salary, the league reimburses the team for part of his salary — any amount above the minimum salary level for a two-year veteran. For example, in 2011-12 the minimum salary for a two-year veteran was $854,389, so for a ten-year veteran, with a minimum salary of $1,352,181, the league would reimburse the team $497,792. Only the two-year minimum salary is included in the team salary, not the player’s full salary. They do this so teams won’t shy away from signing older veterans simply because they are more expensive than younger veterans.

That means that Milwaukee will get a check cut by the NBA for around $571,228 if they indeed sign Novak to a one-year deal for veteran minimum, and he’ll only count as $980,431 when Milwaukee’s salaries are determined.

Fit

Every fan of the Milwaukee Bucks knows the team needed to add shooting this summer, but that goal was seemingly accomplished before Steve Novak was added. Matthew Dellavedova and Mirza Teletovic are both accomplished shooters, as is Jason Terry.

Thon Maker might get a shot one day, and Malcolm Brogdon should have one fairly soon. Add that to improving three-point shooters like Michael Carter-Williams, Jabari Parker and Rashad Vaughn, and it seems like the shooting drought could be coming to an end.

Thus Novak was a little unnecessary in that regard. The other thing Milwaukee needed was defense, especially at the small forward position, and Novak can’t contribute much there. With a full roster, the Bucks still lack a true backup three on their roster.

As mentioned earlier though, Novak is the 15th man. Considering he’ll likely be inactive most nights, his fit isn’t all too vital to the Bucks. Still, using his roster spot on somebody who could play NBA-caliber defense would’ve made more sense here.