New Orleans Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans is recovering from offseason knee surgery, and could still be a few weeks away from being fully healthy.
"I'm not all the way, but I'm getting there," Evans told The Times-Picayune. "I'm just taking it one day at a time, working on the strength in my knee and just coming in and getting up shots. I'm happy to be back."
The veteran swingman missed 10 games last year and could be in danger of missing the start of the season.
Evans is still "a few more weeks away from being 100 percent healthy after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to clean out some scar tissue in his right knee in May," according to The Times-Picayune.
The Pelicans have swapped several draft picks and used large amounts of their cap space in recent years to try and build a playoff team. Owner Tom Benson has mandated a "win now" attitude for the franchise. The main problem with this plan last year was that the players New Orleans acquired couldn't stay on the court. Pelicans players missed 178 games due to injuries last season. The Pelicans starting backcourt, composed of Jrue Holiday and Eric Gordon, combined to miss 66 of those games. With the report that Evans - who backs up both guard spots while also playing at small forward - is not yet 100%, it appears as if the injury bug has yet to be exterminated in New Orleans.
As of now, Evans is reportedly limited to only shooting and dribbling drills to avoid any extra stress on the still-recovering knee. Hogan reported last week that Evans is unable to participate in the five-on-five games taking place at the teams voluntary offseason workouts.
The Pelicans will need Evans healthy and productive if they want to still be playing basketball in late April. With a salary just north of $4 million this year, Evans' absence would be an expensive missing piece from this lineup.
Evans averaged 14.5 points, 5.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds last season, his first in New Orleans.
