The Milwaukee Bucks lost a great one when the team traded living legend Ersan Ilyasova a few years back. They can right that wrong in NBA free agency this summer.
Okay, so maybe Ersan Ilyasova isn’t technically a Milwaukee Bucks legend. The constantly-underrated Turkish power forward has never been an All-Star. He’s actually never scored 14 or more points per game across an entire season before.
He is going to be available in NBA free agency, though, and there’s a chance he might fit well with the Bucks after being traded away two years ago during the offseason. Ersan has gotten older in that time, although his game seems to be aging gracefully.
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That actually makes a lot of sense. Ersan was a stretch four before being a stretch four was cool — now his floor-spacing ways are recognized for the positive that they are. Ilyasova has been busy in the last two seasons, registering time with the Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks.
Is it really time for Ilyasova to return to Milwaukee, the team that drafted him way back in 2005? A lot can change in 12 years, but Ersan taking charges and hitting threes has been pretty much constant this whole time.
To see if an Ilyasova-Bucks reunion makes sense, we’ll look through his strengths, weaknesses, potential salary and fit with the new-look Milwaukee Bucks. Maybe Ersan is a hidden gem in the 2017 NBA free agency class.
Strengths
Ersan Ilyasova can shoot. That was one of the hallmarks of his stay in Milwaukee, during which Ilyasova hit 37 percent of his triples across seven different NBA seasons. Luckily for Ersan, he hasn’t lost his touch since leaving the Bucks.
Across five teams in the last two seasons, Ilyasova has shot a combined 36 percent from downtown. A three-game stint with the Thunder aside, Ersan hit at least 34.8 percent of his threes on each stop over the past two years.
In addition, as mentioned earlier, nobody is better at strategically taking charges than Ersan Ilyasova. He just has an unnatural sense for it. It seems like a trivial thing, but those are extra possessions generated for whatever team boasts Turkish Thunder.
Despite never receiving much acclaim, Ersan has been a dependable producer for a long time. Since his second season in the NBA, he’s averaged 11.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 25.6 minutes per game, while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from deep.
Ilyasova does not need specific conditions to thrive. He’s held those numbers fairly steady across stints on six different NBA teams, and showed no sign of slowing down last year, considering he averaged over 13 points per game.
Weaknesses
Ersan is an incredibly smart defender, as evidenced by the charges he takes, but he’s never been the most athletic player on the floor. The 30-year-old forward isn’t going to get any more spry as his career continues.
It is somewhat worrying that most of the good run Ersan has had in his career has been on bad teams. Ilyasova never really scratched Oklahoma City’s rotation, which may have been a bad move on their part or the result of the Thunder simply not feeling he was fit to get real minutes on their squad.
He started 52 games for an eighth-seeded Pistons team that got swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, but finished the season with the ever-lowly Magic. Then, Ersan got ignored in OKC before starting 40 games for the 76ers, who were fun but not good, and played in 26 games and started 12 for a wayward Hawks team.
Still, the Hawks did make the playoffs, although Atlanta was 11-14 with Ersan logging minutes. He’s still hitting threes, but Ersan hasn’t contributed to a lot of good teams over his career.
Salary
Ersan Ilyasova made $8.4 million in the 2016-17 NBA season. Thanks to the generosity of the Milwaukee Bucks front office, the role player made a nice annual salary for the past few seasons. That deal looked a lot worse two years ago, as the rising cap made the number more palatable.
At 30 years old, it seems highly unlikely Ersan would get another deal like that. That being said…
The also 30-year-old (at the time) Mirza Teletovic got a three-year, $30 million deal for being a very similar player to Ilyasova. Stretch bigs have done very well in the NBA lately, actually.
Chandler Parsons and Harrison Barnes are both hybrid small-power forwards who got max deals in free agency. Jeff Green, somehow, got $15 million for a single season from the Magic. Jared Dudley signed a $30 million deal with the Phoenix Suns, and Darrell Arthur got a three-year, $23 million contract from the Denver Nuggets.
All this is to say, essentially, it probably isn’t wise to pay Ersan Ilyasova $30-ish million for three-ish years, but some team might well do it anyway.
Fit With Bucks
It seems obvious to say welcoming Ersan Ilyasova back to the fold would be perfect for both parties. Unfortunately, some things that seem obvious are also wrong. This might be one of those things.
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The Milwaukee Bucks need more talent–what team doesn’t — but the power forward minutes on this team are gone. Giannis Antetokounmpo has been starting there, and although he can move around to pretty much wherever he’s got Teletovic and potentially Michael Beasley there backing him up at the four.
That’s without even mentioning Jabari Parker, who will occupy one forward spot with Giannis holding down the other one, once both players are healthy again. If Jabari and Giannis average 36 minutes per game, that leaves 24 total for the two forward spots.
Beasley and Teletovic both averaged more than 12 minutes per game last season, meaning between just those two there isn’t enough playing time. Is it worth adding Ersan to see hardly any playing time on a healthy version of the Bucks?
That all depends on the price tag. If Ilyasova is obtainable for veteran minimum, he’s a good addition. If he’s getting multi-million dollar offers, he’s not a worthwhile expense for Milwaukee.
Next: Free Agent Player Profile: Nene
That’s nothing negative about Ersan Ilyasova, but power forward is the last position the Milwaukee Bucks should be worrying about during 2017 NBA free agency.