Pelicans center Jason Smith had his season ended in March of last year due to suffering a torn labrum injury to his shoulder.
The injury supposedly occurred on a play where Smith came up with a blocked shot on a dunk attempt by Kevin Durant.
Smith hopes to be ready for the start of training camp on October 1, but he has yet to be medically cleared by team physicians.
From John Reid of NOLA.com:Smith is hoping to be cleared just before the Pelicans open training camp on Oct. 1.
“That’s best guess right now because you never know if things will flare up when you hit somebody,” Smith said earlier this week after participating in the team’s volunteer workouts at the Pelicans new practice facility. “You put in the time to rest and recover and you put in the work to strengthened it and get back in shape. That’s all I can do right now is try to get in the best shape that I can.’'Smith is a seven-footer who played the last three seasons in New Orleans, and averaged 8.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 17.2 minutes per game last year, while appearing in 51 contests.