Will Philadelphia 76ers make room for Ersan Ilyasova?

The Philadelphia 76ers continue pushing towards the NBA Playoffs. But they know Ersan Ilyasova, and could use more oomph from the bench. Could the team move to re-sign Ilyasova to the team?

The Philadelphia 76ers are as familiar with Ersan Ilyasova as Ilyasova is familiar with them. He played a solid role for the team on a bad season. He played in 53 games for the 2016-2017 Sixers, and started 40 of those games. If you recall, he was the player received when the Philadelphia 76ers moved on from Jerami Grant. When he arrived, he displayed great accuracy from the perimeter, shooting an average of 40.2 percent on three-point shots for his first two months. With that hot hand, he helped the team unburden a rather overworked Dario Saric.

He started hot, but by February 2017 his accuracy and scoring nosedived. And that resulted in his trade to the Atlanta Hawks at the trade deadline.  A year later, the Atlanta Hawks plan to buy him out.

Ersan Ilyasova will be available once more.

Does Bryan Colangelo bring Ilyasova back?

So now the dilemna. We know that the Philadelphia 76ers need bench depth and production. But the roster is now filled. So what could intrigue the team enough to sign him?

Well, his three point shooting is a plus. Off the bench, he becomes another big to put in the front court.  And with that, he still scores, averaging 10.9 while averaging 25 minutes per game. And he has good accuracy on all shots: 45.9 percent from the floor, 35.9 percent from three-point, and 80 percent from the free throw line.  Those are good shots, and you can expect those to stay steady or go up if the Philadelphia 76ers ink him to a contract.

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Bench improvement

He brings playoff experience. He played three seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks in post-season, and joined the Hawks for their playoff run last year. So he is very familiar with the drill of coming onboard an NBA team hoping to find post-season success.  Another plus is his familarity with Coach Brown, the team, and the pace. He had great spacing for the 76ers when he played, and he adds additional insurance to the front court.

The team has not discovered much scoring among the current roster of Trevor Booker, Amir Johnson, and even Richaun Holmes (albeit Homes is not getting enough minutes). So he adds to the front court what Marco Belinelli adds to the back court.  Offense off the bench

The good with the bad

Still, he has limits. He is not a great defender, and he did fade at the end of last season. And as many players who shoot from beyond the arc, he has hot and cold spells. His October 3PT% was just 14.3 percent.  But the team could consider this an upgrade if they want a veteran with playoff experience.

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The trouble is, who do you cut?  If the team waives off Johnson, they save nothing  via the cap, they add offense and lose defense.  And Johnson can play center in a pinch. If the team waives Booker, they pick up on three-point shooting, but lose an overall level of play for the team. If the team cuts Bayless, they swap a front court guy out of a back court loss. And Bayless has en equivalent chance of getting hot from the perimeter as Ilyasova.  So it’s a move that Colangelo likely will not make. Still, it’s worth keeping on the radar.