Category: San Antonio Spurs Blog

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have re-signed forward Steve Novak. Per club policy details of the contract were not released.

Novak, a 6-10 forward, was signed to two 10-day contracts last season before signing for the remainder of the season on March 4.  In 23 games with the Spurs, he averaged 4.0 points and 1.0 rebound in 8.6 minutes while shooting .525 (31-59) from the field, .548 (23-42) from three-point range and 1.000 (8-8) from the free throw line. Novak posted a season-high 19 points (6-10 FG, 5-8 3FG, 2-2 FT) and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes vs. Charlotte on March 19.  Prior to signing with the Spurs he appeared in two games with the Reno Bighorns in the NBA Development League, averaging 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes. Novak started the season with the Dallas Mavericks appearing in seven games, averaging 1.6 points in 2.6 minutes.

Novak has appeared in 225 regular season games with Houston, the L.A. Clippers, Dallas and San Antonio in his five-year NBA career, averaging 4.0 points and 1.1 rebounds in 9.7 minutes per game.  For his career he is shooting .443 (320-723) from the field and .417 (214-513) from three-point range.

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have waived Da’Sean Butler.

Butler was signed by the Spurs on March 25, 2011, but did not appear in any games.

He is a 6-7, 230-pound forward.

The San Antonio Spurs announced that earlier today a successful appendectomy was performed on guard Gary Neal. The laparoscopic procedure was performed in San Antonio and Neal’s appendix was removed without complications.

Neal enjoyed a successful rookie campaign during the 2010-11 season. He averaged 9.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 21.1 minutes in 80 games. He led all rookies in three-point field goal percentage, posting a .419 mark, and earned a spot on the 2011 All-Rookie First Team.

For the first week of his recovery Neal will not be allowed to engage in any physical activity. Next week he will be examined by doctors at which point a timeline for his return will be determined.

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed guard Antoine Hood and forward Gani Lawal.  Per team policy, terms of the deals are not disclosed.  At the same time, the Spurs announced that they have waived guard Devin Gibson.

Hood saw action with Nova Hut Ostrava in the Czech Republic in 2009-10, where he averaged 16.8 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting .594 from the field in 11 games. He played collegiately at the Air Force Academy (2002-06), where he averaged 11.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 118 games for his career. He was named All-Mountain West First Team his senior year, averaging a team-best 14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 29 games.

Lawal was added to the training camp roster after being waived by the Phoenix Suns on December 10, 2011. In his rookie campaign with the Suns last year, he saw two minutes of action against Detroit before suffering a torn ACL and a partially torn MCL in practice on January 6. After rehabilitating his knee injury, he played 10 games with the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League, where he averaged 11.2 points and 6.0 rebounds. Lawal started the 2011-12 season in Poland playing for Zastal ZG, averaging 16.5 points and 11.7 rebounds while shooting .627 from the field in 10 games. In his final collegiate season at Georgia Tech in 2009-10, he averaged a team-best 13.1 points and 8.5 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets.

Tim Duncan spent much of the NBA’s five-month lockout in much the same manner one might expect Tim Duncan to spend a five-month lockout.

When he wasn’t in the gym playing basketball, or on the track working on his conditioning, or in the weight room lifting, he was at home in his living room, playing with his two young children.

If the greatest power forward of his generation was supposed to spend the excess downtime soul-searching, reflecting on a career that, at age 35, is steadily steaming toward its end, well, nobody thought to inform Duncan.

Retirement? So soon?

“I haven’t gotten to that bridge,” Duncan said, at the dawn of his 15th Spurs training camp. “I don’t even see that bridge yet. When I get there, then I’ll cross it.”

In the final season of his contract, at an age when most players are being fitted for a rocking chair, Duncan can be sure he’ll hear similar questions at every NBA outpost he visits this season.

— Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News Blog