The Hornets have been granted a disabled player exception in the wake of Grant Williams‘ season-ending knee injury, reports Bobby Marks of ESPN (via Twitter). The DPE, which is worth half of Williams’ 2024/25 salary, comes in at $6,512,625.
The Pacers have also been granted two separate disabled player exceptions for big men Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman, sources tell Marks (Twitter link). Both players suffered torn Achilles tendons, which will keep them sidelined through at least June 15, as determined by an NBA-designated physician.
Indiana’s DPEs will be worth $2,217,691 (for Jackson) and $1,118,846 (for Wiseman), 50% of each center’s ’24/25 salary.
The Hornets and Pacers will have until March 10 to use their new disabled player exceptions.
As Luke Adams explains in our glossary entry, a disabled player exception can only be used on a single player, but a team can use it in a variety of ways — the DPE can be used to sign a free agent, to claim a player off waivers, or to acquire a player in a trade.
A free agent signed using the DPE can only be offered a rest-of-season deal, while a player acquired via trade or waiver claim using the DPE must be in the final year of his contract. Essentially, the purpose of the exception is to give the team some flexibility to replace an injured player for the rest of the season, but not beyond the current season.
However, the team must have room on its roster to sign the replacement player — the disabled player exception doesn’t allow the club to carry an extra man beyond the usual limits. Both Charlotte and Indiana have full rosters at the moment, but each club has a little bit of flexibility, with players on non-guaranteed (or partially guaranteed) contracts.