Milwaukee Bucks: Ersan Ilyasova returns to a much changed franchise

Ersan Ilyasova has returned to the Milwaukee Bucks, but he’ll be greeted by a much changed franchise from the last time he suited up in green.

You could be forgiven if you’ve long since forgotten the last time Ersan Ilyasova suited up for the Milwaukee Bucks.

In fact, I’ll apologize in advance as you may even have spent the past three-and-a-half years trying to forget about it.

It wasn’t Ilyasova’s fault — in fact he arguably played as well as any Buck on the night — but Milwaukee suffered a 54-point humiliation at the hands of their rival Chicago Bulls, sealing their elimination in what was a six-game, first round playoff series.

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That final result was certainly a major disappointment, particularly after wins in Games 4 and 5, but on the whole the playoff experience came as a hugely positive surprise at the end of what was expected to be a rebuilding season.

As a result, though, that 2014-15 season is one that is often viewed as a decisive springboard for the current iteration of the Bucks. In reality, Milwaukee’s progression has been far from linear, which goes a long way toward explaining the significant change that has accompanied the Bucks’ climb back up the Eastern Conference ranks.

As it stands, Ilyasova returns to the franchise he spent the first seven years of his career with, and will be hard pushed to find familiar touchstones from that time.

The Bradley Center is now a thing of the past with life in Fiserv Forum beginning for the Bucks, John Hammond has departed for Orlando to leave Jon Horst in control of the front office, Jason Kidd and his coaching staff have been replaced by Mike Budenholzer and his group of assistants, while roster turnover has been something of a constant too.

Joining Ilyasova on the Bucks’ roster in that 2014-15 season were John Henson, Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the rest of his teammates (Jabari Parker, Michael Carter-Williams, Zaza Pachulia, Jerryd Bayless, O.J. Mayo, Jared Dudley, Tyler Ennis, Miles Plumlee, Johnny O’Bryant, Jorge Gutierrez, Damien Inglis) have moved on, and in some cases even fallen out of the league.

Of course, none of this is to suggest the Bucks have changed for the worse. They haven’t, and just as surprising is the fact that neither has Ilyasova.

While the 31-year-old will be more than happy to see the Bucks as a team who’ve begun to modernize in terms of personnel and facilities en route to becoming an increasingly relevant power in the NBA, he’s fine-tuned his own game to similar effect.

Ilyasova left the Bucks as a mid-range shooting power forward, but comes back to Milwaukee thought of as a floor-spacing, small-ball big who’s defensively versatile and the potential key to unlocking a variety of versatile and effective lineups.

Perhaps more significant than anything else, he’ll get to play alongside a totally transformed version of Antetokounmpo compared to the skinny 21-year-old who scored just five points prior to getting ejected in their last game on the same team.

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Although the Bucks have been improving, the last three to four seasons have been much more tumultuous than many will likely remember in time. It feels like an age since Ilyasova played with Milwaukee adorning his jersey, and luckily for him and the Bucks, both parties are in a much better place now than they were then.

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