Hoops Nation

The Milwaukee Bucks and 25-year-old power forward Ersan Ilyasova are close finalizing a five-year, $45 million deal, according to a report from Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. Ilyasova’s agent, Tolga Tugsavul, informed the site that the contract should be finalized later this week, which provides some context to Gery Woelfel’s report that Bucks owner Herb Kohl is scheduled to meet with Ilyasova and his representatives on Tuesday.

Ilyasova has played four NBA seasons (267 games) with the Bucks since being selected by the team with the No. 36 overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, and holds career averages of 9.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He played his best basketball during the second half of the 2011-12 season, where he used a huge surge from three-point range to post the best efficiency numbers of his young career — he shot 50.8 percent (32-63) from beyond the arc during the final 28 games, 38.8 percent (19-49) for the rest of the season and is a career 35.7 percent three-point shooter.

(Via BrewHoop)