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Per a report from the New York Times’ Marc Stein, Ersan Ilyasova is drawing interest from multiple teams throughout the league, but he’s so far been unwilling to waive his implicit no-trade clause to make a deal happen:
There also continues to be considerable trade interest in Hawks forward Ersan Ilyasova, but Ilyasova can veto any trade as a One-Year Bird and to this point has shown little interest in relocating
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 7, 2018
Ilyasova re-signed with the Hawks last summer on a one-year contract, which gives him that implicit no-trade clause, as he would lose his full Bird rights if he were traded to another team due to a quirk in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. It seems that he’s been unwilling to waive that clause to this point, even for the opportunity to play for a contending team this season.
Ilyasova has played significant minutes for the Hawks all season and would be a coup for any contender as a high-level shooter and solid defender at the power forward position. However, it’s possible that the Hawks haven’t had a deal that sent him somewhere he wants to go and he can use that no-trade clause as leverage to instead negotiate a buyout, in which case he could choose any team he likes, rather than being beholden to where the Hawks can find a deal. That path would be unfortunate for the Hawks as they wouldn’t get an asset back for Ilyasova, but he’s well within his rights to use his no-trade clause to get what he wants, if that is his objective.
The window closes on Thursday to trade Ilyasova and the other veterans on the team. Stay tuned.