Two New Orleans Pelicans players underwent surgery on Friday, the team announced Monday.
Center Kelly Olynyk had surgery on his left heel and ultrasound-guided tendon debridement. The team described the surgery as “minimally invasive.” Olynyk’s surgery was performed in London.
Brandon Boston, meanwhile, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle in Los Angeles.
Olynyk came to the Pelicans in February as part of the trade for Brandon Ingram. He played in 20 games, all starts, for the Pelicans. He averaged 10.7 points and 5.9 rebounds. His best game came against the Utah Jazz when he scored 26 points to go with nine rebounds and four assists.
Olynyk just completed his 12th NBA season and has one more year remaining on his contract with the Pelicans. Olynyk’s recovery time is expected to be between 3-4 months, which should get him back in action no later than late August.
The Pelicans gave the same 3-4 month timeline for Boston, who just completed his first season in New Orleans.
Boston was claimed off waivers by the Pelicans in October and signed to a two-way contract. In February, he was signed to a two-year deal.
Boston, in his fourth NBA season, averaged 10.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists in the 42 games he played. That included 10 starts. His best game was a 26-point outing against the Orlando Magic in November. His last game of the season was Feb. 8. He missed the final 30 games of the season while dealing with the ankle injury.
In total, Pelicans’ players missed 380 games because of injuries this season. It was a big reason the team finished 21-61, the second-worst record in franchise history.
That led to the dismissal of David Griffin as executive vice president of basketball operations. Griffin was replaced by Joe Dumars, who addressed the injury issues during his introductory news conference last Tuesday.
“I’ll sit and talk to the medical staff and the health and performance people and just try to get a handle on what’s been going on, what’s been happening,” Dumars said. “I think that’s the best thing you can do is listen to the people who are dealing with this on a daily basis.”