The Wizards have requested a Disabled Player Exception for injured guard John Wall, tweets Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. If approved, the team will be able to use $9.258MM to sign a player to a one-year deal or to make a trade or submit a waiver claim for a player with one year left on his contract. That figure represents the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception for 2019/20.
Wall underwent surgery in February for a torn Achilles tendon that he said might sideline him for all of next season. He is entering the first year of a super-max contract that will pay him $170MM over the next four seasons.
Washington was granted a DPE for Wall last season, notes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). Hughes adds that it would be a longer-than-usual rehab time for an Achilles injury if Wall does miss all of next season (Twitter link).
Wall is undergoing rehab work and hopes to return at some point next season, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post (Twitter link). However, his representatives said he will “definitely work” with the Wizards if they believe he will miss the entire year.
The DPE permits teams to replace seriously injured players by adding someone without using cap space. Before granting the exception, the league would have to be convinced that the player is “substantially more likely than not” to be out of action through at least June 15 of the league year. The Wizards would have until March to use the DPE if it is approved.
If the Wizards’ request is approved, Wall would still be permitted to play this season if he can “beat the odds” and make it back. However, Washington would lose the DPE if Wall makes it back on the court before the exception has been used.
Luke Adams contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Now, that is some contract, sheeeeesh
When would this DPE be approved and when would WAS be eligible to utilize this? Could this become a mechanism for a July signing?
Not sure how quickly the league will act on it, but I imagine they applied this early in the hopes that it could be an option in free agency.
Uch, worst contract in the league right now… through no fault of his own. Poor guy, poor team.
I can see the Wiz using the DPE on DeMarcus Cousins
Can the Nets do the same for KD in the upcoming season? Then use that to sign another player on a one year contract?
That would be nice.
They should be able to
Yep. They’ve gotta go through the same process as WAS to determine if he’ll miss the entire year. KD has more of a chance to miss the year than Wall. Not sure of his salary yet because he took less so the Nets could add DeAndre. I’m thinking around $34MM and the DPE is a percentage of the contract for the year.
Not if the injury is known prior to the signing
Plus DPE is only a percentage of the contract only if it’s less than the mid level.
if they get approved they could use the 9.258 million to add a forward for this year
From Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ:
“This exception only can be granted to the team for which the player was playing when his injury or illness was known, or reasonably should have become known. A team cannot trade for an injured player and subsequently apply for a Disabled Player exception for that player.”
Well there goes that idea. They might still be able to add one on a vet min. Duds would come back for the min although we could probably do better.
Really thought that contract was a mistake the minute he signed it but little did anyone know that contract would be a huge mistake before it even went into affect.
Can GSW apply for a DPE for Klay Thompson? Does the disabled player have to be out the entire season? Does the DPE have to fit under the hard cap? It seems like it shouldn’t have to be because this is supposed to replace a player you have to pay because contracts are guaranteed.
Yes, they can apply. It probably wouldn’t be approved though, since it seems unlikely that Thompson will be deemed likely to be sidelined through next June 15 (ACL recoveries typically don’t take as long as Achilles recoveries).
Plus, even if they got a DPE, the Warriors still wouldn’t be able to go over the hard cap to use it. There’s no getting around the hard cap.
If only your last sentence was true for the Cap full stop…way too many loop holes in the NBA Salary Cap.