5. Ersan Ilyasova
Atlanta Hawks power forward Ersan Ilyasova is on his third team of just this season. Prior to joining Atlanta, he was briefly a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, followed by a longer stint with the Philadelphia 76ers.
During his time with Philly, Ilysaova had a proper chance to showcase what he can do as a starting power forward in this league. Over the 53-game period, he averaged 14.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, while shooting 35.9 percent from three.
Furthermore, his advanced metrics also check out nicely. His 0.8 Value Over Replacement Player (VORP, for short) is a higher rate than Klay Thompson’s, Joe Johnson’s and stretch-4 extraordinaire Ryan Anderson’s.
Miami would like to continue to spread the floor in order to give Goran Dragic and Dion Waiters room to drive, and the current Hawks big man would do just that.
Ilyasova isn’t a star by any means. But he’s an upgrade (maybe a major one) over Babbitt, as well as a near-perfect fit next to Hassan Whiteside.