Underrated veterans for the Chicago Bulls to sign: Ersan Ilyasova
Somehow, we are still seeing the veteran 34-year-old Turkish power forward Ersan Ilyasova give NBA teams quality minutes off the bench. Last season, Ilyasova effectively filled the role of a floor spacer playing at the four in limited minutes off the bench for the NBA’s best regular season team in the Utah Jazz.
Following the end to his run with the Jazz last season, Ilyasova has now played for seven different NBA teams over the course of 13 years. He’s now played in more than 800 career regular season games and 50 postseason games in his career to date. Most of those games came with the Milwaukee Bucks, in nine seasons for Ilyasova.
Moreover, it would definitely help the Bulls to have a floor-spacing big man at the four that could play in 10-15 minutes off the bench per night like Ilyasova. Theoretically, Ilyasova is a good fit with what the Bulls need at the four. There are not many other proven power forwards available in free agency for the Bulls at this point of the offseason that can space the floor like Ilyasova.
And the type of playoff experience he brings to the table is something that would be invaluable for Donovan and the Bulls as this team looks to finally get over the postseason hump next year.
A downside that is commonly thought of for signing Ilyasova is the fact that he was a net negative defender in the past. But he’s registered at least one steal and 0.5 blocks per 36 minutes and a positive defensive box plus/minus in each of the last three seasons. He took his defensive game to a new level last season too, registering 2.5 steals per 36 minutes and a career-best defensive box plus/minus of 1.5.