The New Orleans Pelicans have just experienced something that every NBA team dreads during Summer League.
New Orleans has looked at the Summer League as a chance to test out new players, see what sort of talent they have, and figuring out how the upcoming season will look with new recruits and rookies.
A lot of rewards can come out of the Summer League – but there are some risks too.
The Pelicans just got the devastating news that E.J. Liddell is now out indefinitely after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee.
Liddell went down in the third quarter of Monday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks.
The team immediately feared the worst as Liddell was assisted off the court and a subsequent MRI confirmed the bad news.
What does this mean for Liddell – and the Pelicans?
A Young Talent
Liddell has proven his talent repeatedly before being drafted by the Pelicans.
He was a third-team All-American during the 2021 college season.
He was also named as an All-Big Ten first team and All-Big Ten defensive team first team.
There were many analysts who predicted Liddell would be a first-round pick in last month’s draft.
However, New Orleans eventually picked him up as the 41st pick in the draft.
With a torn ACL, Liddell will not be ready to play when the new season starts.
These sorts of recoveries take a long time and often need surgery and extensive rehabilitation too.
However, Liddell is quite young so he should be able to bounce back faster than most.
That means he will still be able to do some good work for the Pelicans – it just won’t be when the first games of the year begin.
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