The NBA has approved the Trail Blazers‘ application for a disabled player exception, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Portland submitted the request earlier this month after losing Rodney Hood to a season-ending Achilles injury.
As we explained in a previous story, the Blazers’ DPE for Hood will be worth $2,859,000, half of his 2019/20 salary ($5,718,000). The exception allows the club to sign a replacement player to a one-year contract, or to acquire a player on an expiring contract via trade or waivers, assuming his salary fits into the exception. It doesn’t provide an extra roster spot, though Portland already has an opening on its 15-man squad anyway.
Although the disabled player exception will give the franchise some added flexibility, the Blazers have the highest payroll of any NBA team for the ’19/20 season and would be on the hook for added tax penalties if they continue to increase team salary. As such, it would be a bit surprising if the club uses the DPE to sign a player for more than the veteran’s minimum.
The Blazers will have until March 10 to make use their disabled player exception. It will expire at that point if it hasn’t been utilized.
Our breakdown of which teams hold disabled player exceptions and which clubs have applied for them can be found right here.
Why not? They already spent $2.2M on Melo.