Pelicans’ Zion Williamson likely to miss start of season with knee injury

The NBA’s sobering October continued on Friday when the New Orleans Pelicans confirmed that their prized rookie, Zion Williamson, is out indefinitely because of an injured right knee.

Williamson is likely to miss the start of the season, which begins Tuesday, with what the Pelicans have termed “soreness” in the 19-year-old’s right knee.

Williamson averaged 23.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in just 27.3 minutes per game — shooting 71.4% from the field — in his four preseason appearances. But Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry told reporters on Friday morning that Williamson is believed to have suffered the injury on Oct. 13 against the San Antonio Spurs. Gentry would not specify how long the team expects Williamson to be out.

Williamson stayed in New Orleans on Thursday for further evaluation and treatment when the Pelicans traveled to New York for their preseason finale against the Knicks on Friday night.

China contradicts Silver: A day after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Chinese officials wanted Houston general manager Daryl Morey fired over a tweet, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry told reporters that no such demand was made by the government there.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, “the Chinese government never posed this requirement.” Geng said last week that the NBA “has been working with China for a long while (and) it knows very well what it should say and do next.” Geng did not offer further specifics.

Roster news: The Jazz picked up their 2020-21 rookie-scale option on guard Donovan Mitchell. ... The Nuggets waived center Tyler Zeller, an eighth-year veteran who appeared in six games with the Hawks and Grizzlies last season. ... The Hawks waived four players, including forward Marcus Derrickson, who played 11 games...