NBA Free Agency 2018: 5 most puzzling contract decisions

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – MAY 5: Ersan Ilyasova #23 of the Philadelphia 76ers shoots the ball against the Boston Celtics in Game Three of Round Two of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 5, 2018 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /

2. Ersan Ilyasova, Milwaukee Bucks — three years, $21 million

This was another example of a team with its full mid-level exception looking in the wrong direction.

The Bucks clearly identified frontcourt shooting as need, evidenced by this signing and the one that nabbed Brook Lopez. It makes sense — the flexibility allowed by employing Giannis Antetokounmpo is one a smart team would leverage into playing stretch bigs throughout the entire game. Antetokounmpo can cover for a lot of their defensive shortcomings, and Milwaukee still has John Henson available as a backup for defensive purposes.

The mid-level exception was a powerful tool this summer — more money than some teams could even consider offering. Even a one-year deal for an appealing player (as the Pelicans essentially did with Julius Randle, for instance) makes sense considering the financial advantage Milwaukee and a few other teams possessed.

Even if they decided not to pay their whole MLE for a one-year deal, instead desiring the ability to offer that player an even bigger salary after two or three seasons with bird rights, logically they would target a younger player on a multiyear deal.

So any way you look at it, the contract Ilyasova signed with Milwaukee makes no sense from the team’s perspective. The Turkish big man will be 34 by the time this contract expires, by which time this team will be even more expensive and the Bucks will have less means to improve their roster.

What they did the rest of free agency just reinforces that this was a mistake.

Grabbing Brook Lopez, if a veteran frontcourt shooter was indeed the target, makes much more sense using the bi-annual exception. Lopez could even provide more value for Milwaukee this year than Ilyasova. Next summer, the Bucks will have no real advantage to re-sign Lopez.

Timing can be the difference between knowing Lopez is available at that price tag, and Ilyasova was indeed a coveted player considering his skill set and size. But looking at Milwaukee’s offseason from with a bird’s-eye view, it seems the Ilyasova contract restricted their ability to make substantial upgrades to the rest of the roster in a season where they have a chance to be major players in the Eastern Conference during Mike Budenholzer’s inaugural season as coach.

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