New Orleans Pelicans’ Tyreke Evans plans to play against OKC Thunder

When the New Orleans Pelicans traded for Tyreke Evans this offseason, they knew they were getting an extremely talented player. They also knew they were picking up a potential injury risk.

Evans, who won the 2009 NBA Rookie of the Year award with the Sacramento Kings has struggled to regain his former form, which resulted in the offsesaon trade – much of that attributed to injuries. Evans has struggled the past few seasons with a handful of issues related to his feet including multiple severe ankle sprains, so when the former Memphis Tiger went down with a nasty sprain in the preseason opener, there was obvious and understandable concern.

Thankfully for the Pelicans and Evans, the sprain isn’t of the high ankle variety and Reke Havoc expects to be back on the court this coming week, likely against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"Following Saturday’s practice, the 6-foot-6, 220-pounder said he won’t play in Sunday’s game vs. Atlanta, but hopes to return this week. He is targeting Thursday’s game against Oklahoma City, which will be played at the BOK Center in Tulsa.“It’s a little tender when I land, but it’s much better,” Evans said of his left ankle. “I want to see how I feel after practice and things like that. Just take it day by day. I don’t want to rush back (if) it’s still weak. The way I play, I don’t want it to happen again, so I just want to be real careful about that.”"

Much of Evans’ game consists of driving and penetrating, which unfortunately often breeds ankle sprains given the vast amount of feet in the paint where Evans completes his moves.