Milwaukee Bucks: Is Ersan Ilyasova best suited to playing as a small ball 5?

While he has still proven to be an effective option at his natural position, the Milwaukee Bucks will continue to reap rewards when Ersan Ilyasova operates as a small ball center next season.

In what has been a well-traveled career, one that has quite literally spanned the globe, all roads have led to the Milwaukee Bucks more than once for veteran forward Ersan Ilyasova.

llyasova made his stunning Milwaukee homecoming on the opening night of free agency last offseason upon agreeing to a three-year, $21 million deal, the final year of the contract being non-guaranteed.

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While the Turkish international would no longer occupy a starting role just as he had for the majority of his second go-around with the Bucks, his return would not only reunite him with those that remained in the front office through the many changes over the years, but also head coach Mike Budenholzer as both overlapped during their respective stints with the Atlanta Hawks.

In many ways, that proved to be the best decision in not only the Bucks amassing the depth they possessed under their core starters, specifically superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, but in preserving Ilyasova over the course of an 82-game season and what ended up being a deep playoff run that ultimately came crashing down.

That resulted in Ilyasova averaging 18.4 minutes per game over his 67 regular season appearances, which stands as the fewest amount of minutes the 32-year-old has logged since his rookie campaign back in the 2005-06 season (it should be noted that Ilyasova played 18.1 minutes per game over the Bucks’ 15 playoff games).

Another way the Bucks, specifically Budenholzer, looked to preserve Ilyasova was slotting him up in lineups and having operate as a small ball center for more minutes than he has previously seen throughout his career. Per Cleaning the Glass, 52 percent of Ilyasova’s total minutes during the regular season last year came at the 5-spot.

The benefits of rolling with Ilyasova in that role were many for a Bucks team that looked to space the floor to an incredible degree offensively and to give the Bucks a little more mobility and a different wrinkle than their conservative, drop back defensive scheme that stood as the basis behind their top-ranked defense last season.

Using the word mobility in relation to Ilyasova may elicit some guffaws from many Bucks fans, but the athletic forwards whom shared the floor alongside the veteran in those configurations can do plenty to cover for his athletic limitations at this stage. For example, the two-man combination of Antetokounmpo and Ilyasova gave way to a +18.8 net rating in the 484 minutes both shared the floor together last year, per NBA.com/stats.

Of course, not all of those minutes were used in the context of going small as Budenholzer showed a willingness to play super-sized minutes between the two as well with either big man Brook Lopez or Nikola Mirotic asked to round out the frontcourt for those situations as well. Nevertheless, the results are still undeniable as to how valuable it is to have a fundamentally sound option at the 5 like Ilyasova has proven to be.

The question moving forward is whether we’ll see Ilyasova utilized in that role to a similar degree for the Bucks, especially in light of where the frontcourt stands after their offseason dealings.

Bringing in Robin Lopez gives the Bucks another solid option that will give them some more size and strength in the interior in the vein of his twin brother, Brook, and he will certainly cut into Ilyasova’s center minutes (though, that duo could give the Bucks a potent tandem on the offensive glass, given their strengths).

Additionally, the Bucks have great small ball options to turn to for when they want even more speed and quickness defensively, especially when switching, between Antetokounmpo as well as third-year forward D.J. Wilson, who will look to build on his mini-breakout sophomore campaign last year.

On the whole, having such adept options to turn to gives them a whole host of looks to keep their opponents on their toes, and raises questions about how to combat such a wealth of possibilities from the Bucks’ perspective.

But in the case of Ilyasova, he may not receive the same kind of run he received last season as a small ball center. Time will tell if that’s the case, but it might not limit him from being a useful depth piece within the Bucks’ bench mob as they look to run it back in hopes of winning next season’s NBA title.