Veteran forward Steve Novak is reportedly set to join the Milwaukee Bucks after securing a buy out from the Nuggets following the trade that sent him to Denver from the Oklahoma City Thunder during last week's NBA trade deadline, ESPN reports.
Novak, together with D.J. Augustin, two second-round picks, and cash considerations, was dealt to the Nuggets on Feb. 18 in exchange for Randy Foye. He was immediately waived by Denver which led to the former Marquette standout having the chance to return to his home state of Wisconsin with the Bucks.
The 33-year-old Novak was a high school star in Brown Deer, Wisconsin before joining Miami Heat All-Star Dwayne Wade in playing for the Marquette Golden Eagles in college.
He had played with a total of eight NBA teams prior to joining Milwaukee, namely the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, and Oklahoma City. His stint with Denver was not counted because he never represented the squad on the basketball court.
With the Bucks, Novak is set to reunite with former Knicks teammate Jason Kidd who is now Milwaukee's head coach.
NBC Sports' Pro Basketball Talk indicated, citing ESPN's Brian Windhorst, that Milwaukee is "most likely to cut Chris Copeland to create roster spot" for the 10-year pro.
Novak has only played seven games this season for the Thunder and was used sparingly, visiting the hard court in just 3.4 minutes of playing time per night. With that, he averaged 2.4 points with no other significant stats. He shot 55.6 percent from the three-point area, though, which had always been his greatest strength.
The Libertyville, Illinois native is shooting 43.2 percent from downtown throughout his career and would be a legitimate outside threat for the Bucks, who are now currently at the 13th spot of the Eastern Conference with a 23-33 record, six-and-a-half games behind present eighth seeds Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets.
Novak's best season was with Kidd in New York as he averaged 8.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in a career-high 20.3 minutes per game. He was considered as one of the most reliable three-point shooters then and he could restore that reputation with the Bucks this season.