The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced Monday that former Kings guard Tyreke Evans has been reinstated after serving a two-year drug ban.
The NBA and the players association released a statement saying Evans, 32, is an unrestricted free agent who will be free to sign with any team in the league as soon as Friday.
"The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association today granted the request of Tyreke Evans to be reinstated as an NBA player, after Evans was dismissed and disqualified from the league on May 17, 2019, for testing positive for a prohibited substance under the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program," the statement said. "Pursuant to an agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association, Evans is now an Unrestricted Free Agent who may negotiate over the terms and conditions of a Player Contract with any team, and who, subject to other applicable CBA rules, may enter into a Player Contract with any team beginning 12 p.m. (ET) on Friday, February 18, 2022."
The Kings selected Evans with the No. 4 pick in the 2009 NBA draft. He was named Rookie of the Year after averaging 20.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists, joining Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only rookies to average at least 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
Evans spent four seasons with the Kings before going to the New Orleans Pelicans in a three-team trade that brought Greivis Vasquez to Sacramento and sent Robin Lopez to the Portland Trail Blazers. Evans returned to Sacramento in the 2017 trade that sent DeMarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi to New Orleans in exchange for Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway and two draft picks.
Evans averaged 19.4 points while shooting 45.2% from the field and 39.9% from 3-point range with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2017-18, but his numbers dipped dramatically the following year with the Indiana Pacers. Evans averaged 10.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 38.9% from the field and 25.6% from beyond the arc. Evans scored a career playoff-high 21 points in a season-ending loss to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs on April 21, 2019. Less than a month later, the NBA issued a statement announcing Evans had been banned from the league and would be eligible to apply for reinstatement in two years.
