By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers are attempting to develop a young core of players to eventually become a perennial Eastern Conference playoff team and more than that. They have some really nice pieces in place, as we all know, with Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric. While there’s still an issue of figuring out the future’s of both Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel in Philadelphia, the team has a nice base of young talent to build around.
One of the other important pieces of a successful team is having veteran presences, both in the locker room and on the floor and Sixers management has done a pretty good job in supplying Brett Brown with some solid veterans this season in Ersan Ilyasova, Jerryd Bayless and even Sergio Rodriguez. The biggest contributor of the three, being Ilyasova, is only signed through the end of this year, which is making some fans think about whether he should be resigned or not. In this short post, we’ll examine reasons he should and shot not stay.
The case for Ersan Ilyasova:
If a common fan is to watch the Sixers, I think it’s a pretty easy case for Ilyasova. He seems to be active on both ends of the floor, shooting long-range relatively well and leaves his body out there for charges in the lane. Stat wise, Ersan is shooting a respectable 44.8 percent from the floor and 37 percent from beyond the arc while also grabbing a little over six rebounds per game. Overall, a solid contributor to a Sixers offense that doesn’t really have a go-to offensive weapon outside of Joel Embiid. Ilyasova, in addition to his contributions on offense, provides a young team with some veteran presence, something they don’t really have beyond Jerryd Bayless, who is out for the year with a bum wrist. So this season, the trade to acquire him made a lot of sense. In a nutshell, the benefits of keeping him are simple. He provides depth at the stretch four, can shoot the three pretty consistently and has really gelled well with the core of young Sixers players.
The case against keeping Ersan Ilyasova:
The glaring reason for the Sixers to trade or not resign Ilyasova is that he is taking minutes away from young players, most notably Dario Saric, and would continue to do so if he remains in Philadelphia past this season. While Dario Saric hasn’t blown anyone away with his 38.8 percent shooting, his long-range numbers as a starter are vastly higher than when he comes off the bench. As a reserve in 29 games, Saric is shooting just 33.6 percent from beyond the arc. In 10 starts, that percentage jumps up to 46.2. In addition, Saric’s defensive play is improving and he’s really starting to feel more comfortable using his body to get buckets in the paint. Dario has played the three, but he’s a more natural four without a doubt. Ilyasova has been somewhat slumping as of late and in many situations, he passes up hitting an open teammate to throw up a contested layup off the glass. Some of his recent play, including rushing shots early in the shot clock, has been questionable and seeing Saric succeeding makes Ersan’s mistakes come to the forefront.
While Ilyasova’s time in Philadelphia has been positive, it is important to focus on how this roster is going to shape up moving forward. It may make more sense for the Sixers to part ways with Ersan and try to find the veteran presence at a position they may need it, but they could be pretty set with Gerald Henderson and Bayless moving forward. Also, when Ben Simmons returns, he could see time at the four as well, even if he’s being played as a point guard, so things keep getting more crowded. Add in some 2017 draft picks, and the roster as a whole is somewhat of a blur.
In conclusion, if Bryan Colangelo ends up resigning Ilyasova, it won’t completely bad decision. If he does play in Philadelphia after this season though, Dario Saric’s role becomes more of a question, because he’s struggled playing small forward and covering some of the quicker players around the court.
