Ersan Ilyasova expected to sign with 76ers after Hawks buyout, per report

Ilyasova will rejoin the team that he played 53 games for last season.

Ersan Ilyasova is expected to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers once completing his buyout with the Atlanta Hawks, according to Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania. Ilyasova will bolster a Philadelphia frontcourt and help the team’s playoff push, which appears relatively safe with the 32-25 Sixers sitting five games up on the ninth-seeded Detroit Pistons.

Ilyasova played 53 games for Philadelphia last season before being traded to Atlanta, where he has played 46 games this season. He has averaged about 11 points, shot 36 percent from behind the three-point arc, and is a positive rebounder in the 26 minutes that he has averaged for the team. However, with the Hawks in a race to the bottom, they have little use for the 30-year-old journeyman.

If completed, this would be Ilyasova’s eighth unique stop with an NBA team, and sixth NBA team overall.

Why do the 76ers want Ilyasova?

Philadelphia plays a combination of Amir Johnson, Trevor Booker, and Richaun Holmes as the backup big men, at least when they don’t go small. Ilyasova is a much better three-point shooter than any of those three, and generally a better offensive player, and his inclusion will allow more lineup flexibility and five-out shooting lineups even when the team goes to the bench.

Since Ilyasova was with the team last year, his inclusion even this late into the season should be relatively seamless. There’s no guarantee he’ll regularly join the rotation — I’d guess he’s a situational big man — but coaches crave flexibility, and Ilyasova gives the 76ers more of that.