The bad news got worse for EJ Liddell and the Pelicans, with the rookie now having been diagnosed with a torn ACL after an injury suffered in the Pelicans' second Summer League game.
The Pelicans announced the news Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the injury in the team's win over the Atlanta Hawks.
The injury occurred during the third quarter, with Liddell scoring 6 points in his limited action. All three Pelicans rookies suffered injuries in the first two games. Dyson Daniels suffered an apparent ankle sprain and Karlo Matkovic suffered a hand injury that required stitches.
The injury comes as a potentially great blow to the start of Liddell's career, after being selected No. 41 overall by the Pelicans in the 2022 draft out of Ohio State. Liddell was yet to sign a rookie contract, and was already possibly looking at a two-way deal with the New Orleans roster heavily stocked.
Even if he were to sign a deal to remain with the team, he'd be unlikely to get on the floor at all in his rookie season. It's possible Liddell could recover in time to get on the court by the end of the 2022-'23 season, but it's a long shot. The recovery timeline for such injuries is typically between 6 and 9 months.
Liddell's coach from his Buckeyes days, Chris Holtmann, chimed in with some positivity after the news broke.
Daniels' injury doesn't appear significant, but he's unlikely to be seen on the floor the rest of Summer League. Pelicans assistant and Summer League head coach Jarron Collins also said it'd be unlikely that wings Trey Murphy and Naji Marshall have likely seen the last of their exhibition minutes after two games.
The Pelicans will next be on the floor at 5 p.m. (central) on Wednesday when they face off with the Washington Wizards.
