Sixers Notes: Ilyasova, Embiid, Okafor, Brown

After being traded four times since June of 2015, Ersan Ilyasova believes he might finally be with the right organization, relays Brian Seltzer of NBA.com. The Turkish power forward had just left the practice court in Oklahoma City on Tuesday when he was informed that he had been dealt to Philadelphia in exchange for Jerami Grant. He got a late flight to meet his new team in Charlotte and was in uniform for tonight’s game against the Hornets. “As soon as I start kind of thinking about it, I think it’s a really good situation,” Ilyasova said. “This team is building, they’ve got a lot of pieces, obviously, and being part of it is a huge thing.”

There’s more news tonight out of Philadelphia:

• Sixers coach Brett Brown has been limited in the amount of time he can play big men Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor together because both are on minute restrictions, notes ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. Embiid is playing his first NBA games after missing two seasons with a twice-broken foot, and Okafor is being brought along slowly after knee surgery in March. Brown realizes the situation is temporary, but said it can be complicated to get Embiid and Okafor on the floor together. “You just feel like it is cookie-cutter stuff,” he said. “It is a very rigid road map and that is OK. Nobody is crying about it. It is a challenge.”
• Embiid made a quick impression on Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing, who serves as an assistant with the Hornets, posts Tom Haberstroh on ESPN Now. After watching Embiid on film, Ewing exlaimed to head coach Steve Clifford, “Woah. This guy? He might be the most talented center in the game.”
• Despite their wealth of young talent, the Sixers are still making familiar mistakes that cost them games, writes Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The latest example came Tuesday when Philadelphia let a big lead slip away in a loss to Orlando. “Every time you lose a close game, you wonder what you would do differently,” Brown said. “… I understand that we’re all looking at how do you close that game out, and I think that, even with a healthy group, the difference probably is that you have Ben Simmons with the ball, and I’m sure that Joel Embiid is right in that mix.”