Philadelphia 76ers: Could Ilyasova help secure a second first-round pick?

For the price of the 34th overall pick, the Philadelphia 76ers could steal Ersan Ilyasova and the 30th overall pick from the Milwaukee Bucks. Here’s how:

Ersan Ilyasova just doesn’t look right outside of a Philadelphia 76ers jersey.

Sure, he only spent 76 games with the club split over two separate seasons, but despite longer stints with the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks, it’s hard not to remember the Ilyasova-era fondly, as it was among the purest Sixers basketball we’ve seen between the tanking ‘Process’ years and the team’s turn into all-out win-now mode.

And in a weird twist of fate, Ilyasova is available again and could become a Sixer for the third straight season.

Now most Philly fans would certainly take Marc Stein’s tweet as an indication that the 76ers could finally reunite with the 6-foot-10 stretch-four big man, but to me, the most exciting part of the statement is the draft compensation.

Talk about having your cake and eating it too.

Now typically when a team wants to get off a contract such as Ilyasova, with two years and about $7 million of his three-year, $21 million deal left on the books (2020-21 isn’t guaranteed) they will include a second round pick for the trouble, but as things presently stand, funnily enough, the Bucks only have one pick in the 2019 NBA Draft – the 30th overall selection.

While that pick isn’t particularly valuable to most, it could hold unique value to the Sixers, as they like a number of players who could go between the 25th and 33rd selection.

With the team being publicly linked to the likes of Carsen Edwards, Ty Jerome, Cameron Johnson, Eric Paschall, and Dylan Windler just to name a few – all of whom are upperclassman that can knock down an open shot, I wonder if they have a type? –  and a sneaky need to fill out their roster with only five players currently under contract, it may make some sense to add a player like Ilyasova while also securing a slightly higher first round pick – and his cheap four-year, guaranteed contract.

I mean, why not, right?

On the surface, adding Ilyasova back into the fold for about $7 million a year would do wonders for the 76ers bench, as it would give the team another certified shooter who has already proven he can be successful in Brett Brown‘s scheme on two separate occasions.

That in and of itself is worth a second round pick, but securing his rights while also moving up in the draft, even if it’s just three spots, is valuable, and could be the difference between adding an immediate roleplayer who can play right away, or settling for a bigger project, or gasp, a draft and stasher.

And for the Bucks? Well, they would have $7 million in cap relief as they feverishly attempt to keep their 2018-19 core of players in place, while also flipping a first-round pick – and his guaranteed contract – for a similar player that they could sign to a much more creative deal (remember how that worked out for 2014 second-round pick K.J. McDaniels?).

Now there’s no way of knowing exactly how this summer will shake out, let alone the draft, but when an opportunity to add a proven player at a position of need – one with experience in the scheme to boot – and move up to ensure a better draft positioning, it’s very hard to find a reason the Philadelphia 76ers shouldn’t trade the 34th overall pick (yes, they own both 33 and 34) to the Bucks for the 30th overall selection and Ersan Ilyasova. If someone is going to profit off Milwaukee’s desire to get cheaper, why shouldn’t it be a division rival?