The Wizards have become the second team today to receive a disabled player exception as a result of a season-ending injury. According to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link), the NBA has granted Washington with a DPE to replace C.J. Miles, who recently underwent surgery to repair ligament damage in his wrist.
The league also granted a disabled player exception to the Trail Blazers in response to Rodney Hood‘s season-ending Achilles tear.
[RELATED: 2019/20 NBA Disabled Player Exceptions]
The Wizards’ DPE is worth $4,365,079, half of Miles’ 2019/20 salary ($8,730,158). The team can use it to sign or trade for a player, or claim someone off waivers. That player’s contract can’t extend beyond the end of this season, and his salary must fit within $100K of the DPE’s amount.
The Wizards previously applied for a disabled player exception this season in response to John Wall‘s Achilles injury. However, that request was denied by the NBA, since Wall underwent surgery last February and presumably wasn’t considered likely to be out through June 15, 2020.
Washington now has a DPE as a result of Miles’ injury, but the club probably won’t use it on the free agent market — the rebuilding Wizards already have $128MM in salary on their books for this season and don’t need free agent help. Still, 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.