Bucks Pushing To Trade Ersan Ilyasova?

WEDNESDAY, 9:01am: There’s a strong feeling among Bucks brass that it would be better to keep Ilyasova rather than trade him, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

MONDAY, 3:47pm: Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times identified Ersan Ilyasova shortly before the draft as the Buck most likely to be dealt, and the team continues to shop him “hard,” an NBA executive tells Woelfel (Twitter link). Ilyasova is set to make $7.9MM in each of the next two seasons, and he’s been a trade candidate seemingly ever since he signed his five-year, $40MM deal in 2012.

Ilyasova reportedly asked for a trade this past season, though he later said he was “comfortable” in Milwaukee. Ilyasova had said at the time that, “When you go through a season like this and your name comes up [in rumors] it is a little frustrating. But I still feel myself as part of this franchise. I’m hopeful we can find the right pieces for the team so we can play much better because we really need it. I want to be part of a playoff team and that’s what I’m looking forward to, [the franchise] building a better team – a playoff team.

The 27-year-old’s production took a step back in 2013/14, as he averaged 11.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and abysmal 28.2% shooting from three-point range, all numbers that were worse than the season before. Ilyasova was hampered by a nagging ankle injury during the second half of the season which could have contributed to the drop in production.

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