It has been a rough season for the Los Angeles Clippers and we are only in December. They are currently 8-14 and are without Blake Griffin, Danilo Gallinari and Patrick Beverley, three of their starters.
While Gallinari could return in the next few days and Griffin will return in a few months, Patrick Beverley is done for the season after undergoing knee surgery.
Because of Beverley’s injury and the Clippers need for healthy bodies, they have been granted a disabled player exception this season by the NBA.
Sources: The NBA has granted the Clippers a $2.75M disabled player exception for the loss of guard Patrick Beverley for the season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 5, 2017
Before your wheels start spinning too much about how they can use the exception in a DeAndre Jordan trade, it should be noted that this exception can not be traded to another team or use it as cap space per se.
The Clippers had to apply for the exception in order to receive it though, so one would think that they intend to use it in some way, maybe for a better point guard option than Austin Rivers? (can’t help myself).
They are already over the salary cap at $120 million this season, pretty sad considering the state of their roster right now. While this news doesn’t necessarily affect the DeAndre Jordan trade rumors at all, it seems that might be the path the team is headed down in the next few months if they decide it is time to blow it up.