Pelicans sharpshooter Matt Ryan will remain sidelined until well into the new year, as the team announced Tuesday in a press release that he underwent an arthroscopy earlier in the morning to remove loose bodies from his right elbow.
According to the Pelicans, Ryan’s timeline for a return to action is about six to eight weeks.
Ryan, who is on a two-way contract with New Orleans, got off to a hot start this season after being claimed off waivers from Minnesota at the end of the preseason. He averaged 9.3 points on .458/.471/.929 shooting in his first 13 games as a Pelican, logging 22.9 minutes per night.
However, Ryan sustained a calf strain on Nov. 18, which sidelined him for the next couple weeks. Just when it appeared he might be nearing a return from that injury, he was affected by another ailment — on Dec. 2, he started being listed on the injury report as out due to elbow soreness.
That diagnosis was eventually updated to an elbow strain and now he has had to undergo a procedure to address the issue.
As a two-way player, Ryan wasn’t exactly an irreplaceable piece in the Pelicans’ rotation, but he was one of the team’s few reliable outside shooters and provided floor spacing, especially prior to Trey Murphy‘s season debut.
As Christian Clark of NOLA.com observes (via Twitter), despite not having played for three-and-a-half weeks, Ryan still ranks second on the club in total three-pointers made this season, behind only rookie Jordan Hawkins.
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