Category: Dallas Mavericks Blog

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have signed forward Steve Novak. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. InsideHoops.com assumes it’s a nonguaranteed contract for training camp.

Novak (6-10, 230) joins the Mavericks as a free agent from the Los Angeles Clippers where he spent the past two NBA seasons. He holds career averages of 4.1 points, 1.1 rebounds and 10.1 minutes in 195 career games with four starts.

Originally a second round draft pick (32nd overall) of the Houston Rockets in 2006, Novak played two seasons in Houston before being traded to the Clippers. In 2008-09, his first season with Los Angeles, Novak enjoyed a career year where he averaged 6.9 points and 1.8 rebounds in 16.4 minutes while shooting 44.4 percent from the floor and 91.3 percent from the free throw line.

Novak played his collegiate career at Marquette University. As a freshman, he saw action in 33 games and was a member of the Golden Eagles’ 2003 Final Four team along with current NBA players Dwyane Wade and Travis Diener. As a senior, Novak led Marquette averaging a team-high 17.5 points a game while shooting 97.5 percent from the foul line.

A native of Brown Deer, Wis., Novak played high school basketball for his father, Michael, and was named the 2002 Wisconsin Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

Eric Torbenson of the Dallas Morning News reports:

Dallas Mavericks  owner Mark Cuban  had a turnover in federal court Tuesday as an appeals panel sent his insider trading case back for trial.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a Securities and Exchange Commission suit against the billionaire. The decision doesn’t mean the SEC wins outright, but simply that the issues need to get further hearing and the suit is back on.

The government contends Cuban broke insider trading rules by selling his stake in search engine company Mamma.com after learning of the company’s plan to sell a piece of itself to investors, which would dilute Cuban’s holdings. The stock sale allowed Cuban to avoid an estimated $750,000 in losses…

And a countersuit filed by Cuban that alleges the SEC brought the case against him in bad faith continues regardless of Tuesday’s ruling. Cuban wants the government to pay his legal fees for pursuing a case out of bias rather than legal merit, his own suit says.

SportsDayDFW reports:

Mavericks  owner Mark Cuban  is joining ABC’s “Shark Tank” for the show’s second season, the Hollywood Reporter reported on its Web site.

The owner will be a guest venture capitalist for three episodes, in which regular folks pitch ideas with hopes of getting an investment.

Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports (via blog):

Tim Thomas has decided not to return to the Mavericks because of the situation with his ailing wife.

Her condition, which Thomas and his family prefers to keep private, forced the 6-10 forward to stay with her much of last season.

He played with the Mavericks for the first half of the season, averaging 7.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 18 games. But he left the team in January – with the Mavericks’ blessing – to care for his wife.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have re-signed free agent forward Tim Thomas. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Thomas (6-10, 230), a 13-year veteran, was the seventh overall selection in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and has played with seven teams during his career (Philadelphia, Milwaukee, New York, Chicago, Phoenix, L.A. Clippers and Dallas), including two stints with both New York and Chicago. In 824 career games, he holds averages of 11.5 points and 4.1 rebounds, while shooting .437 from the field, .369 from behind-the-arc and .758 from the foul line.

In 2009-10, Thomas played in 18 games with Dallas (starting once) and averaged 7.5 points and 2.3 rebounds.  He missed the first 11 games of the season due to right knee surgery and 41 games due to personal reasons.

The Patterson, N.J., native has seen action in seven different Playoff runs (55 games). Thomas’ postseason averages show an increase in every major category over his career regular season numbers with averages of 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting .468 from the field, .436 from three-point range and .772 from the foul line.

Thomas was a standout at Villanova University where he played for one season before making himself eligible for the NBA Draft. In his only season as a Wildcat, Thomas averaged 16.9 points and 6.0 rebounds. He was named The Sporting News Freshman of the Year and Big East Rookie of the Year.