The thought of playing in Brooklyn was planted and became very agreeable for Ersan Ilyasova, the Bucks’ 6-foot-10 unrestricted free-agent power forward. If he wanted it before, he likely craves it now with the thought of playing with a backcourt of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.
“They’ve been talking again,” one league source said of chats between Ilyasova’s camp and the Nets, who have pulled off one headline-grabbing, interest-generating move after another recently behind general manager Billy King and assistant GM Bobby Marks.
The stronger those talks become, the more apparent it would be the Nets aren’t the favorites in the Dwight Howard circus.
Nevertheless, the Nets made all their moves with enough creativity — including getting Bosnian star forward Mirza Teletovic to accept the smaller taxpayer’s mid-level exception ($3.09 million instead of $5 million for the first year) — to gain additional flexibility to avoid the $74.3 million hard cap. This means the Nets would not be limited in what they can offer Brook Lopez or Kris Humphries.
Keeping Humphries’ Bird rights is imperative for the Nets in a sign-and-trade for Ilyasova, likely needing a third team. The Bucks want to keep Ilyasova and have offered five years — the Nets only can offer four. The Raptors, Cavaliers, Spurs and European teams also are interested.
Even if the Nets don’t get Howard, a healthy Lopez — and all indications say he is recovered from the broken foot/ankle injuries that torpedoed his season — is hardly junk. The Nets could present a starting front line of Gerald Wallace (13.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg career), Ilyasova and Lopez (17.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg career). Ilyasova, who was in second place for the Most Improved player in the NBA last season, averaged 13.0 points and 8.8 rebounds. He also finished the season with three straight double-doubles.
Plus, Ilyasova bagged at least one 3-pointer in each of his last 10 games, shooting 45.5 percent on the season, trailing Knick Steve Novak and Warrior Stephen Curry.
“I really like his game,” one opposing GM said. “He’s tough inside to rebound but can step out and hit the three. Any time you get a big to stretch the floor like that, it’s special.”