Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans out 6–8 weeks after knee surgery

Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans is expected to miss 6–8 weeks after having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Tuesday morning.

Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans is expected to miss 6–8 weeks after having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Tuesday morning.

New Orleans head coach Alvin Gentry gave reporters the projected timetable on Wednesday. Should Evans take the full duration to recover, he would return in early December.

“If you know Tyreke, if there is any way of getting back earlier, he'll do that,” Gentry said before Wednesday night's game against the Magic, according to the Times-Picayune. “But I know he will back as soon as he possibly can. He loves to play. He can play in pain. I just want him to get well and get completely healthy.”

The surgery was Evans’s second arthroscopic procedure on the knee following an initial surgery in May. In early October, a knee contusion kept him out of New Orleans’s first preseason game. He subsequently played in two games Oct. 9 and Oct. 12, logging 24 minutes in each. The Advocatereported that he missed Saturday’s game in Lexington, Ky. with soreness.

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Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry appeared unflustered by that soreness given his comments to reporters Friday, calling it “not any big thing.” The team did not give a timetable for his return to the floor.

Evans, 26, appeared in 79 regular season games for New Orleans last season, averaging 16.6 points, 6.6 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game. He was the fourth overall pick in the 2009 draft by Sacramento and has averaged 16.8 points, 5.2 assists and 4.9 rebounds for his career.

His injury is the latest to hamper the Pelicans, who have high hopes this season behind star forward Anthony Davis and new coach Alvin Gentry. Point guard Jrue Holidaybegins the season on a minutes limit, and centers Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca are currently sidelined with calf and hamstring injuries, respectively. Backup point guard Norris Cole is out up to six weeks with a high ankle sprain. Forward Luke Babbitt is out indefinitely with a left hamstring strain, and forward Quincy Pondexter is expected to return in November as he recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery in May.

New Orleans signed veteran guards Nate Robinson and Bo McCalebb last week.

- Jeremy Woo