Clippers request disabled player exception after Bradley Beal’s hip injury
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The Los Angeles Clippers have filed for a Disabled Player Exception (DPE) in the wake of guard Bradley Beal’s season-ending hip fracture, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line/Bleacher Report.
Beal was diagnosed last week with a fractured hip and is expected to remain sidelined through June, satisfying NBA requirements for the exception. The DPE does not create an additional roster spot, but it gives the club limited salary-cap flexibility to:
- Trade for a player on an expiring contract,
- Claim a waived player, or
- Sign a free agent to a one-year deal.
The value of the exception is the lesser of half the injured player’s salary or the non-taxpayer mid-level amount. With Beal carrying a $5.34 million cap hit, the Clippers can use up to $2.67 million under the DPE.
Los Angeles has already exhausted its full mid-level exception and does not have the bi-annual exception available this season, making the DPE one of the few tools left to add talent above the veteran minimum. The team is currently just $1.28 million below the first tax apron; crossing that threshold is prohibited unless salary is moved, effectively limiting how much of the DPE can be used.
The deadline to utilize the Disabled Player Exception is March 10.
Source: Hoops Wire
