WEDNESDAY, 3:40pm: The Pelicans have officially received the exception, according to Stein and Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who notes that it will expire March 10th (Twitter links).
TUESDAY, 12:54pm: The league is about to grant the Pelicans a disabled player exception for Ryan Anderson, who’s likely out for the season, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It would be worth $4,154,250, or half of Anderson’s $8,308,500 salary. New Orleans could use it to sign no more than one player to a contract for the rest of the season, or trade for a single player on an expiring contract who makes up to the full amount of the exception, plus $100K.
It’s not clear whether the Pelicans will receive the exception in time for Thursday’s trade deadline, when it would be of greatest use. The Nets, Hawks and Bucks are other teams armed with DPEs. Brooklyn and Atlanta have exceptions worth $5.15MM for Brook Lopez and Al Horford, respectively, while Milwaukee’s is $1.63MM in compensation for the loss of Carlos Delfino.
The Pelicans appear to be one of the most active teams as the deadline approaches, with Eric Gordon, Anthony Morrow, Austin Rivers and Pierre Jackson all on the block. GM Dell Demps and company are reportedly seeking a big man who could offset the loss of Anderson and Jason Smith.