According to a New Orleans Pelicans press release, guard Tyreke Evans had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Tuesday and is out indefinitely. Though his doctors deemed the surgery a success, this marks the third time in the past 16 months that Evans has had the same procedure on the same troubled knee.
He first underwent the surgery back in May of 2014 to clean out scar tissue, then had the same procedure just a year later in May of 2015. Following previous surgeries, his timetable for return has been approximately 6-8 weeks, but it’s unclear how long he’s expected to be sidelined after this most recent procedure. He played in 79 games for New Orleans last season and 72 the year before that. Now, however, it’s looking like he could possibly miss the first two months of the season or more.
After posting one of the most statistically-impressive rookie seasons in NBA history, Evans has settled into a more modest, yet highly effective, role with the Pelicans, who will need his services if they want to make a second consecutive appearance in the Western Conference playoffs next spring. He averaged 16.6 points, 6.6 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game for the Pelicans last season.
(Pelicans)
