Here’s my honest take on the matter: the Thunder could really use Ersan Ilyasova. When was the last time someone other than Russell Westbrook scored 25 or more on that team? I was confused as heck when they traded him for Jerami Grant, and I remain confused as heck. Why would you give up one of the only shooters on your team for yet another non-shooting small forward?
Ignore the incredibly surprising fact that Grant is somehow shooting better than Ilyasova on threes this season. That fact does not fit my narrative.
Westbrook’s eternal quest for assists would be made a lot easier if had a pick-and-pop bigman to spam passes to. Ilyasova is not hesitant to shoot, he’ll do a fadeaway if he has to (or even if he doesn’t have to), which is more than can be said for most of the other passing targets Westbrook has to play with.
Conspiracy theory time: the Thunder knew the trade didn’t make sense personnel-wise, but did it anyway because Enes Kanter and Ilyasova had conflicting views on Turkish politics, which was causing irreconcilable strife in the locker room. It’s an interesting idea, but I’m not going to say any more on the subject, because that’s just asking for me to get doxxed by people I don’t really want to get doxxed by.