Greg Stiemsma has not received word about Monty Williams' plan with the rotation of the New Orleans Pelicans, but the big man wants to emerge as the starting center alongside Anthony Davis.

"I’m going to look at this as a great opportunity to start a lot of games,’’ Stiemsma said on Tuesday. ``That’s the mindset I have going into the camp that somebody is going have to take that away from me. Obviously, I’m not a go-to scorer, but I can definitely hold my own on every offense I’ve played in. My defensive presence is going to be what this team is going to need.’’

Several players on the Pelicans, including Stiemsma, have gathered for workouts ahead of training camp.

Stiemsma has started 22 of 131 career NBA games.

Stiemsma signed a one-year, $2.7 million deal with the Pelicans.

Darius Miller has suffered a stress fracture in his left foot and is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks, the New Orleans Pelicans announced on Monday.

Team doctors discovered the injury after Miller experienced discomfort recently.

Miller will return to New Orleans on Sept. 10 to begin his rehabilitation process.

Miller averaged 2.3 points and 1.5 rebounds as a rookie last season.

Jason Smith says he does not feel pain in the surgically repaired right shoulder that forced him to miss the final 24 games of last season, but he has not been cleared yet for contact drills.

Smith hopes to be cleared for contact just before the New Orleans Pelicans' training camp opens 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. ``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 briefly tried to play through his injury but admitted he felt further pain when players collided with his shoulder or when he tried to block a shot.