Post by stephenlion on Mar 10, 2013 8:39:21 GMT -5
Ersan Ilyasova wanted to test the free-agent market.
But in the end he wanted to be back in Milwaukee.
So the 25-year-old power forward officially signed his multiyear contract on Thursday and was welcomed back to the team by the teammates and GM at a news conference.
The four-year deal was reported to be worth as much as $46 million.
Ilyasova stressed his longtime ties to the Bucks organization, which drafted him at age 18 in 2005, and also said it was a family decision to return.
Ilyasova's wife, Julia, moved to Milwaukee from Belarus at age 16, and the couple met when she was attending UW-Milwaukee. They now have two daughters, Xzenya, age 4, and Catherine, 15 months.
"There was a lot of conversation with my agent, back and forth with different teams," Ilyasova said. "I think it's the best decision I made, just to come back to the Milwaukee Bucks.
"I was really comfortable. Not just me but my family as well."
GM stated the Bucks knew Ilyasova's personality and his game after spending the last three years together. Ilyasova made huge strides last season as he averaged career highs of 13 points and 8.8 rebounds.
"If you say there's a risk in part of what we're doing, we think a guy like Ersan is the safest risk we can possibly have," GM said. "We know two things about Ersan Ilyasova.
"No. 1, he is as solid a person as you're going to find. And No. 2, and probably more important than that, is he has a work ethic second to none."
Ilyasova said the long-term contract would not change his approach to the game. And he said he already was working on a few ways to improve this season.
"I'm looking forward to improve my game in the low post," Ilyasova said. "Sometimes I was struggling and a team would switch on me and I'd have a (smaller) player on me. I'm trying to work on that this summer, to be more effective in the low post against those mismatches."
GM stated that Ilyasova "set the bar pretty low for himself" by just shooting 31% from three-point distance last season.
"I'll take anything over 38 this year, Erson," the Bucks GM said. "Everybody needs big guys that can stretch the floor out to that three-point line. And he obviously proved he's that type of player."
Ilyasova remembered his arrival with the Bucks in 2005, a fresh-faced teenager from Turkey.
"For me it was a different culture, and I didn't know English at all," Ilyasova said. "It was hard for me at the beginning, and they (the Bucks) were helping me a lot.
"I find my wife in Milwaukee as well. And our kids were born in Milwaukee, too."
After his first two years in Milwaukee, Ilyasova returned to Europe to play two seasons for Regal FC Barcelona. He signed again with the Bucks in the summer of 2009.
"That's why I went back to Europe, just to get stronger and develop myself as a player," Ilyasova said. "I think it's worked out really well for me. I spent two years in Barcelona. I think all the decisions I've made so far have really worked out well for me."
