Omer Asik Out 3 Weeks With Calf Strain

New Orleans Pelicans center Omer Asik is out three weeks with a strained right calf suffered in practice, the team announced Thursday.

The Pelicans’ frontline was already thin with Alexis Ajinca recently going down with a hamstring injury.

While both of these injuries seem relatively benign, the lingering ramifications could end up being troubling. Calf injuries can linger and it is possible that he is not ready when the regular season starts. For big men especially, these can be hard injuries to overcome because you’re asking enormous human beings to deal with weakened leg muscles. “It’s just a time situation to get them a point where they heal”.

Secondly, the Pelicans’ backup options right now are Kendrick Perkins and Jeff Adrien. Obviously this is not a good thing, but like Ajinca, Omer is not set to miss much time. Starting with Friday night’s preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks in Jacksonville, Fla., Gentry may use lineups that include swingman Tyreke Evans and guards Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon and Norris Cole all paired together with Davis playing center. However, Davis has also had a few issues staying on the court due to injuries over his young career. Ideally, he would line up at power forward, but he is more than capable of playing center with versatility and the ability to protect the rim. The idea with Perkins when they signed him this offseason was for him to mentor Anthony Davis and provide leadership on the bench but now he may have to play a prominent role early on. The Pelicans have time to figure this out since it’s still preseason, but this could become a real problem.