New Orleans Pelicans fans will see Tyreke Evans in uniform Thursday for the first time since Jan. 25. They just won’t see him on the court for prolonged stretches tonight.
Roughly 90 minutes before tip-off vs. Indiana, Pelicans second-year head coach Alvin Gentry said Evans likely will not log a total of more than 15 minutes in his season debut. The eighth-year NBA veteran’s stints on the hardwood probably will be divvied up into smaller chunks.
“Obviously, he’s going to have to play very limited minutes,” Gentry said, alluding to Evans’ extended layoff from basketball. “Fifteen is probably the max he’s going to play. More than anything, (tonight) is to put him back out there again. It’s almost been a year since he’s been in a competitive situation. It’s really just to wet his feet a little bit.”
It remains to be seen exactly how that maximum of 15 minutes will be allotted, but Gentry indicated that Evans will be subbed in for shorter spans.
“I don’t think it’s a situation where we want to play him eight minutes (for example), and then seven minutes,” Gentry said of getting to 15 minutes. “We don’t want him to play long stretches. Four or five minutes is the most he could play in a stretch. We’ll have to get a feel for it.”
Gentry cautioned media and fans to have reasonable expectations in terms of what Evans will produce short term, particularly given how long it’s been since he participated in a real game.
“We’re happy to have him back,” he said, “but I don’t want expectations to get out of hand, because there is a long road to go before he is back to being Tyreke.” …
Other news from pregame:
With Tim Frazier sidelined 7-10 days due to a right wrist injury, the Pelicans will need to make other changes off the bench. Langston Galloway has played backup point guard at times, but was able to move to shooting guard with Frazier filling the role of second-unit floor general.
“We’ll have to make an adjustment and figure it out along the way,” Gentry said of compensating for Frazier’s injury absence.