Out of all the impending Atlanta Hawks free agents to hit the market in the summer of 2017, Ersan Ilyasova was arguably at the top of the list of players who, most people thought, would certainly not be coming back to Atlanta next season.
It all seemed to make sense on paper why Ilyasova wasn’t expected back.
He was acquired mid-season from the Philadelphia 76ers — as an impending free agent — to add depth and shooting to a playoff team, which already placed him in the category of ‘possible rental’.