The San Antonio Spurs, today, announced that they have signed forward Steve Novak for the remainder of the season.
Novak was on his second 10-day contract after being originally called up from the Reno Bighorns on February 8.
Novak, a 6-10 forward, has appeared in eight games for the Spurs, averaging 2.5 points in 6.1 minutes per game, while shooting .462 (6-13) from the field and .444 (4-9) from three-point territory.
At the same time, the Spurs also officially announced they have signed Othyus Jeffers from the Iowa Energy to a 10-day contract.
Jeffers, a 6-5 guard/forward, has appeared in 37 games with the Energy this season, averaging 21.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.95 steals in 38.4 minutes while shooting .480 (276-575) from the field, .295 (13-44) from three-point range and .741 (22-293) from the foul line. He’s led the Energy to a D-League best 30-10 record, reaching double figures in scoring in all 37 games he’s appeared in. Jeffers has registered 17 double-doubles on the season, including a 32 point, 18 rebound performance at Tulsa on Nov. 26.
Jeffers scored 14 points in 20 minutes for the Western Conference in the D-League All-Star game last month, was a D-League leader in points, and rebounds well for his size, having two 12 rebound games in his last three games with the Energy.
I was a bit surprised to see the Spurs call up a guard/forward, especially with Tony Parker out of commission for a couple of weeks. I don’t expect Jeffers to get major minutes, especially playing behind Manu Ginobili, Gary Neal and James Anderson. The Spurs could give Jeffers or Anderson more minutes at small forward, but with a tough schedule starting tonight against the Heat, I wouldn’t expect significant minutes from Jeffers.
