A disabled player exception may be awarded when an NBA team drops a player with a season-ending injury. The exception gives the club some additional spending flexibility, functioning almost like a cross between a traded player exception and a mid-tier exception.
We go into more detail about who qualifies for the Disabled Gamer Exceptions and how exactly they work in our glossary entry on the subject. But essentially, an EPD gives a team the ability to add an injury replacement by signing a player to a one-year contract, trading a player in the final year of their contract, or requesting a waiver. to a player in the final. year of his contract.
Since the rules for disabling player exceptions are somewhat restrictive, and the exceptions themselves are often not worth much, they often simply expire without being used. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye out for exceptions for disabled players, just in case.
We will use this space to break down the teams with disabled player exceptions available for the 2022/23 league year, updating it as the season progresses if more teams are granted DPEs and /or to indicate which ones were used.
Teams have until January 15 to apply for a disabled player exception and until March 10 to actually use them.
Here is the list so far:
Exceptions available for disabled players:
The Celtics used the entire taxpayer mid-tier exception to bring in Gallinari as a free agent, but the Italian striker tore his left ACL in a World Cup qualifying game even before to have the chance to dress for Boston.
The Celtics did not announce a recovery schedule when they announced Gallinari’s surgery, and the 34-year-old said he remains hopeful of returning before the team’s season ends. However, the odds seem slim, so Boston was granted a disabled player exception.
Because the Cs have two trade exceptions that are worth more than the Gallinari DPE, the team probably won’t use it in a trade, but it could be useful in the buyout market if Boston is faced with a rival that can’t offer. than the veteran’s minimum. .
Disabled player exceptions used:
Like Gallinari, Holmgren had yet to make his regular season debut for his new team when he suffered a season-ending injury in a non-NBA game. The No. 2 pick in this year’s draft had at least played for the Thunder in the Las Vegas Summer League before going down with an aa Lisfranc injured his right foot during a pro-am game in Seattle.
Because Holmgren was such a high draft pick, his rookie salary is nearly $10 million, allowing the Thunder to receive a disabled player exception large enough to absorb the expiring $4.5 million contract. + from Harkless in a deal with Atlanta.
thunder sent Vit Krejci in this trade, but he only had a partial guarantee of $781,759, and even if his $1,563,518 had been fully guaranteed as part of the agreement, it would not have been enough to match the salary entering from Harkless. As such, Oklahoma City had to use an exception to close the deal.
Harkless wasn’t part of OKC’s plans for the 2022/23 season (he was later sent back to the Rockets in a salary dump), but taking him on allowed the Thunder to acquire a future second-round pick from the Hawks and to change protections on another second round owed to them by Atlanta.