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Milwaukee Bucks Re-sign Former Marquette Golden Eagles Forward Steve Novak

It’s great to see him catch on with the hometown team after how his 2015-16 season ended.

By Brewtown Andy
Los Angeles Lakers v Milwaukee Bucks Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images

It took nearly two months of free agency time for it to happen, but on Monday afternoon, the Milwaukee Bucks made the most popular move of their offseason, or at least the most popular one amongst the segment of their fanbase that also cheers for Marquette.

Free agent forward Steve Novak has signed a one year contract with the Bucks!

It’s the policy of the Bucks to not disclose terms of their contracts, but after making more than $15 million of his $20 million career earnings in the past four seasons, I suspect that Novak’s not too worried about making significant bank this year.

Novak was traded to Denver by Oklahoma City last season, but negotiated a buyout that allowed him to sign as a free agent with Milwaukee on February 22nd. He appeared in just three games for the Bucks before injuring his left MCL and missing the remainder of the season. The good news about Novak signing a new contract with Milwaukee isn’t even so much that his 10 year NBA career will continue, but it’s that he’s completely recovered from that injury to the point where he’ll pass a physical to play AND he’s still feeling up to playing after going through that rehab.

According to his Basketball Reference page, Novak is the second best active three-point shooter in the NBA at 43.1%, tucked neatly between Stephen Curry and Kyle Korver. He’s also the the sixth best long range shooter in NBA history. I don’t know if he can overtake Steve Kerr’s 45.4% by the time he wraps up his career, but it’ll be fun to watch Novak take a shot at it while wearing the forest green of the Bucks.

Novak played from 2002-2006 for Marquette, averaging 12.4 points and 4.2 rebounds. He was the Conference USA Sixth Man of the Year as a freshman, and named to the all-Big East First Team as a senior. Novak finished his career as Marquette’s all time leader in three-pointers attempted (768), three-pointers made (354), and three-pointer percentage (46.1%). Novak is the only MU player to ever shoot better than 90% for his career on free throws, as well as the only one to ever make more than 90 three pointers in a season.