Ersan Ilyasova will not play for Turkish National Team this summer

Ersan Ilyasova did not join the Atlanta Hawks until halfway through the 2016-2017 NBA season. Once the veteran forward arrived, he filled a strong role under Mike Budenholzer while providing floor-spacing at the power forward position and that helped to net him a contract with the team for the upcoming campaign.

However, Ilyasova has bounced around quite a bit in recent years and that, as you may expect, can be taxing. As a result, the 30-year-old announced this week that he will not be playing for the Turkish National Team this summer.

KL Chouinard of Hawks.com brings a translated version of Ilyasova’s announcement.

As noted above, Ilyasova has played for the Turkish National Team since 2006 and this is a well-deserved rest. From a perspective of the Hawks, this can only be a positive, as there is no risk of injury in highly competitive play and Ilyasova can preserve his body for the upcoming NBA season.

It remains to be seen as to just how involved Ilyasova will be for the Hawks moving forward and, to put it plainly, he could be a trade asset midseason. Until then, though, we must assume that he will be a key contributor in the rotation as a potential starter and Ilyasova being fully rested upon arrival for training camp is probably a good thing.

Stay tuned.