Summer focus and final grade
Having signed a contract that will see him remain in Milwaukee through the end of next season at the very earliest, Ilyasova’s summer will be a lot more relaxed than many of his teammates will experience with their free agency decisions.
Ilyasova’s game is undoubtedly what it is at this point in his lengthy veteran career, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Ilyasova has carved out a significant niche for himself and proved a capable contributor with a variety of different franchises over the years.
Across two different teams, he has also become one of Coach Budenholzer’s most trusted on-court lieutenants, and that role is very likely to continue into next season.
There is an outside chance that the Bucks could look to offload Ilyasova in the summer in search of salary cap relief considering the sizable outlay facing them in retaining other key players. Still, Ilyasova’s productivity last season would make it seem much more likely that the more peripheral Tony Snell would be the contract the Bucks would prefer to offload.
If there’s one area of Ilyasova’s game where he could focus much of his work throughout the summer, it would be worthwhile to hone in on his shooting. Ilyasova has long been a perfectly serviceable shooter, but even a slight bump in his percentages next season would be a major boost to Milwaukee.
BTBP Final Grade: B
Our season reviews will continue over the next couple of weeks as we work our way through every player on the Bucks’ roster.