The Wizards have applied for a disabled player exception in response to C.J. Miles‘ left wrist injury, reports Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team announced last week that Miles had undergone surgery to repair ligament damage in his wrist, and there’s a belief that procedure will sideline him for the rest of the season.
As we outline in our glossary entry on the disabled player exception, a team can apply for a DPE to replace a seriously injured player. In order for the exception to be granted, an NBA-designated physician must determine that the player is “substantially more likely than not” to be sidelined through at least June 15 of that league year.
If granted, the disabled player exception allows a club to sign a replacement player for 50% of the injured player’s salary, or for the amount of the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception, whichever is lesser. In the case of Miles, the exception would be worth $4,365,079, half of his 2019/20 salary ($8,730,158).
The DPE, which doesn’t give a team an extra roster spot, can also be used to acquire a player on an expiring contract via trade or waivers if his salary fits into the exception.
[RELATED: 2019/20 Disabled Player Exceptions]
The Wizards have already applied for one disabled player exception this season, hoping to gain extra flexibility as a result of John Wall‘s Achilles injury. However, that request was denied by the NBA, presumably because Wall wasn’t considered likely to be out through June 15, 2020. We’ll see if the ruling is any different on Miles, who doesn’t have a definitive recovery timeline after undergoing wrist surgery.
If the DPE for Miles is granted, the Wizards seem unlikely to make use of it on the free agent market, as the rebuilding squad already has $128MM in salary on its books for this season. However, it could come in handy in a smaller trade. Last season, the Wizards used a DPE to acquire Wesley Johnson from New Orleans, allowing the team to generate a trade exception that was eventually used to land Davis Bertans.