METAIRIE, La. -- The return of New Orleans Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans is expected "sooner rather than later," according to general manager Dell Demps, but it won't come on Friday against the LA Clippers.
Evans, who has missed more than 10 months after undergoing a third right knee surgery in the span of nine months, experienced tightness in his left calf during practice Wednesday, per Demps, and has been ruled out of for at least the Pelicans' next game.
"We're going to continue to hold him out until it's safe for him to play," Demps said. "We're very pleased with his rehab so far. We're not going to put a timetable on his return, but it should be sooner rather than later."
Demps said Evans is in "tremendous shape" and that the team is pleased with his recovery. The Pelicans plan to work him back in slowly to get into "basketball shape." Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said there's "no way" Evans can play long stretches of minutes right now.
"Obviously we're going to monitor him," Demps said. "Whenever a player starts to play -- especially in the middle of the season - everybody else is already going 100 miles an hour and you're kind of playing catch-up. You have to be smart."
Gentry said he doesn't expect Evans to look like the same player he was before the injuries until he has time to acclimate himself to regular-season games.
"It's not going to be right until he's out on the court and play some games and get a feel and timing and everything like that," Gentry said.
When he does return, Gentry said he envisions Evans playing a role similar to the one Lance Stephenson held before Stephenson was waived in early November after suffering a groin injury that required surgery.
"I think he can be a point-forward. He can be a primary ball-handler. I think he's going to be off the ball. I think you can post him up," Gentry said. "Obviously there's a lot of things you can do with him because that's kind of what he's been since Day 1 when he walked into the league in Sacramento."
After playing in a career-high 79 games in 2014-15, Evans underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in May 2015 to remove loose particles.
Evans then bumped knees with Kendrick Perkins in preseason practice, causing a chip in his right knee that required surgery.
He returned Dec. 1, 2015, but persistent knee swelling -- despite the draining of fluid -- led to an osteochondral autograft transfer system (OATS) procedure in February to replace cartilage in three areas of his knee.
Evans revealed on media day in late September that he also suffered a blood clot in his calf following the February surgery but that it went away after two days and didn't consider it an issue moving forward. The 26-year-old returned to non-contact action in practice on Nov. 15.