Ersan Ilyasova returns to the Milwaukee Bucks, but what does it mean?
The Milwaukee Bucks and ex-Sixers forward Ersan Ilyasova have re-connected on a three-Year, $21 million deal.
News broke at precisely 12:01 AM ET Sunday morning, the official dawn of 2018 Free Agency, that the Milwaukee Bucks and forward Ersan Illyasova had agreed to a three-year, $21 million deal.
Its not a blockbuster signing by any means, but is probably fun to hear if you’ve been following the NBA for the last couple of years. Ilyasova was a solid contributor and a fan-favorite in his previous time in Milwaukee. He spent seven years as a part of a Bucks team who was for the most part not in contention while he was there, between 2006 and 2015 (Spent two years in Spain). During that stretch he averaged up to 13.2 points per game, and was even around to see a budding Giannis Antetokoumnpo enter the league.
Since being traded to the Detroit Pistons back in 2016, Illasova has also spent time with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, and most recently the Philadelphia 76ers.
That $7 million a year price tag may seem like a lot of money to a backup power forward, but two main reasons stick out as to why it might not be a bad deal:
1. The Bucks need to space the floor, for the past few seasons they’ve been among the worst in the league from behind the arc. Ilyasova can help with that, he shot 36 percent from 3 last year as well 46 percent from distance in 2011 as a member of the Bucks. They lost a similar player to injury with Mirza Teletovic who seemed to fit the system well, so why not?
2. Free agency can be crazy, the Bucks can’t be sure they will be able to keep current power forward, Jabari Parker. Any team could throw him a max deal if they miss out on their top targets, so why not have a competent backup option if he’s gone. Even if Parker was locked up for next year, it doesn’t hurt to have a solid substitute for a guy who’s only played 183 games in 4 seasons.
The deal cannot be officially signed until July 6, however.