NBA’s Disabled Player Exception: Privileges Provided By The League Explained

The Chicago Bulls have allegedly requested a disabled player exemption worth $10.2 million since Lonzo Ball is anticipated to miss the whole 2023–24 NBA season. Shams Charania of The Athletic was the first to report on this. Ball missed the whole month of January 2022 due to a ruptured meniscus. He’s already had three procedures.

NBA’s Disabled Player Exception: Privileges Provided By The League Explained

The NBA will occasionally grant a club a spending allocation to replace a player when that player is lost for the full season due to injury.

The permission is known as a salary cap exception, and the exemption for handicapped players is the one that a team requests in order to have greater discretion over their expenditure.

The NBA Disabled Player Exception is explained in detail in Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ as follows:

The NBA-designated physician or Fitness to Play panel must find that the player is significantly more likely than not going to be unable to play through the following June 15 in order for the league to approve this exception.

If this exemption is approved, the team may sign one free agent, make one trade, or claim one player off waivers to take the place of the injured player:

  • For a single season only, the team is allowed to sign a free agent for either 50% of the handicapped player’s salary or the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level exemption, whichever is less.
  • Only players who are in their last season of their contract, including any option years, and make no more than 50% of the handicapped player’s salary plus $100,000, or the amount of the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level exemption plus $100,000, whichever is less, may be acquired by the team.
  • Only players who are in their last season of their contract, including any option years, and who are making no more than 50% of the salary of the handicapped player, or the amount of the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level exemption, whichever is smaller, may be claimed by the team off waivers.

Teams can request an exception from July 1 through January 15, but they are unable to do so beyond that date. Once granted, the exemption ends on March 10 of that season, when a player is acquired, when the disabled player is moved, or both, depending on when it occurs first. If the player will also be sidelined the next season, the team must reapply for this exception. This exception is given on a season-by-season basis.

A doctor jointly chosen by the league and the players association, or a Fitness to Play panel, decides whether a sickness or injury is career-ending. The decision is based on whether the condition is serious enough to make continuing to play a danger that is medically intolerable, or if it will preclude the player from playing for the duration of his career.

The player’s wage is immediately subtracted from the team salary if the injury exclusion is approved.

For the remainder of the 2021–2022 season, the whole 2023–24 season, and now until the following year, Lonzo Ball is out. His career is anticipated to be revived by the most recent treatment, a cartilage transplant surgery completed in March.

For instance, the Chicago Bulls are qualified to establish a $10.2 million exception since Lonzo Ball will make $20.4 million this year.

he As Lonzo Ball is anticipated to miss the full season, the Chicago Bulls have continued to search for solutions to increase their guard depth. In free agency, they added seasoned point guard Jevon Carter to a three-year, $20 million deal.

 

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