Amid the issues that the Chicago Bulls faced recently with the league’s health and safety protocol, the team made a multitude of additions to the roster via 10-day contracts thanks to the hardship exemption. And one of the key additions the Bulls made to the roster via the hardship exemption and a 10-day contract is veteran power forward Ersan Ilyasova.
With the Bulls getting essentially all of their roster back from the league’s health and safety protocol during the Christmas break this week, it’s hard to know exactly what the role will be for new 10-day signings such as Ilyasova and former Los Angeles Lakers guard Mac McClung. Ilyasova could get some minutes at the four or five with forward Derrick Jones Jr. currently injured.
Ilyasova is also more of a traditional floor-spacing power forward that could help the Bulls when the three-point shooting is down in-game.
Ersan Ilyasova will reportedly wear the No. 77 in honor of the Chicago Bulls Hall-of-Famer Toni Kukoc
There is at least one interesting report that emerged this week concerning Ilyasova after he signed this 10-day contract with the Bulls. Ilyasova will reportedly be wearing the No. 77 on his jersey as a tribute to the Bulls’ Hall-of-Fame forward Toni Kukoc.
Ilyasova says he’ll wear No. 77 with #Bulls as a tribute to Toni Kukoc, former teammate with Bucks
— Mike McGraw (@McGrawDHSports) December 24, 2021
Kukoc wore the No. 7 for pretty much all of his NBA career, including his long run with the Bulls in the 1990s and early 2000s. But the No. 7 is already being worn by shooting guard/small forward Troy Brown Jr. for the Bulls this season.
Ilyasova has also either worn the No. 7 or 77 throughout much of his lengthy NBA career. That looks to be largely thanks to the fact that Kukoc served as a mentor for Ilyasova when Ersan was breaking into the NBA in the mid-2000s with the Milwaukee Bucks. Kukoc and Ilyasova were technically teammates when Ersan first entered the NBA in 2006.
While Ilyasova and Kukoc never played a game together with the Bucks, they were still on the same cap sheet after Ersan was Milwaukee’s second-round pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. The following season (2005-06) was Kukoc’s last year in the NBA.
Ilyasova can also serve as a mentor on the current Bulls’ roster for some of the younger forwards such as the currently-injured second-year forward Patrick Williams, TBJ, DJJ, and power forward Alize Johnson, among others. This could be an interesting fit with a veteran floor spacer that can play some minutes at the four off the bench for the Bulls.
It looks like the debut for Ilyasova in a Bulls uniform is set for Dec. 26 when Chicago takes on the Indiana Pacers at home at the United Center coming out of the Christmas break. The Bulls are sporting a record of 19-10 in the midst of the holiday break following a 15-point home win over the Houston Rockets from back on Dec. 20.