The Wizards have been awarded a disabled player exception, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report and The Stein Line (Twitter link). The team applied for a DPE last week after announcing that Cam Whitmore would miss the rest of the season due to a blood clot in his right shoulder.
An NBA team becomes eligible for a disabled player exception when one of its players sustains an injury that is considered more likely than not to sideline him through June 15 of that league year. A disabled player exception doesn’t grant the team an extra roster spot, but it generates some additional cap flexibility. The exception can be used to acquire a player on an expiring contract via trade or waiver claim, or to sign a free agent to a one-year deal.
The value of the disabled player exception is equivalent to either the non-taxpayer mid-level exception or half of the injured player’s salary, whichever is lesser. Since Whitmore’s cap hit is $3,539,760, well below the mid-level, the Wizards’ new DPE is worth $1,769,880.
The deadline to use a disabled player exception is March 10 and there’s a good chance the Wizards’ exception will expire without being used. It’s too small to realistically be used on the trade market and the team already has a handful of other exceptions that are more valuable, including the full non-taxpayer mid-level and a series of trade exceptions. Still, it doesn’t hurt to have the DPE on hand just in case.
The Wizards are one of at least seven teams to be granted a disabled player exception this season, joining the Bulls, Mavericks, Rockets, Pacers, Clippers, and Thunder.
The Bucks also requested a DPE last month, while the Hawks had N’Faly Dante go down with a season-ending injury well before the January 15 deadline to apply for the exception. There have been no updates on Milwaukee or Atlanta, but that doesn’t necessarily mean neither team was awarded a DPE, since that news sometimes goes unreported.