What made Mike D’Antoni and the Phoenix Suns such a threat in the Western Conference was the fact that he had an arsenal of shooters at his disposal. But when D’Antoni first arrived in New York, his best three-point threat was Al Harrington. That’s not good. Last year, Toney Douglas was the only player on the Knicks to hit more than 100 three-pointers, finishing the season with 143. They also had sharpshooter Andy Rautins on the roster, but never used him. Finally, it appears D’Antoni has found his man.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Knicks will sign three-point specialist Steve Novak to a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum contract if he clears waivers on Wednesday.
The Spurs placed Novak on waivers yesterday, after he re-signed with the club on Dec. 15. This was reportedly done as a favor to the six-year vet who didn’t have a fully guaranteed salary for the season.
Novak, a 6-11 forward, will provide New York with something they’ve desperately been in search of the past few years: a shooter off the bench. Novak is that guy. Out of his 723 career field-goal attempts, 513 have come from behind the three-point line. And he’s a career 41.7 percent shooter from beyond the arc.
Here’s an example of what he can do from this March against Miami:
While Novak won’t ever get the credit he deserves, he could be one of the last missing pieces to New York’s puzzle.
What do you think? Is Novak the right guy? What does New York need to win a title?
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