Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels underwent successful left knee surgery on his torn lateral meniscus, the team announced. The 2022 lottery pick is expected to make a full recovery and will be reevaluated in four weeks, per the release.
Daniels has been a rotation regular for New Orleans in his second NBA season, averaging 5.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 52 games, including 15 starts (21.9 minutes). He posted a .438/.291/.640 shooting line in those contests.
Asked about Daniels on Wednesday, head coach Willie Green didn’t rule out the possibility that he could return before the playoffs begin on April 20, according to Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link). New Orleans is currently 33-22, the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference.
A 6’8″ combo guard out of Australia, Daniels was selected to the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend, which will place tomorrow. However, due to his injury, he was replaced by Grizzlies wing Vince Williams.
The Pelicans exercised their third-year team option on Daniels before the season began, so he will earn a guaranteed $6,059,520 salary in 2024/25.
The Pels will have until the fall to decide they want to pick up their fourth-year option — worth $7,707,709 — for the final season of the 20-year-old’s rookie scale contract. That seems very likely given his solid contributions, particularly on the defensive end.