Clippers granted Disabled Player Exception after Bradley Beal injury

The Clippers got a bit of clarity on their roster options this week.

The league has approved L.A.’s request for a disabled player exception in the wake of Bradley Beal’s season-ending hip fracture, per Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.

Beal was diagnosed last week with a fractured hip, an injury the NBA ruled as “more likely than not” to keep him out through June 15.

That meets the league’s threshold for a disabled player exception, which doesn’t create an extra roster spot but does open up a little extra cap flexibility.

For the Clippers, the number comes in at $2.67 million, or half of Beal’s $5.35 million salary.

The exception can be used to sign a free agent to a one-year deal, trade for a player on an expiring contract, or claim someone off waivers.

And on paper, it could help. The Clippers already burned through their full mid-level exception and don’t have the bi-annual available after using it last season.

Any extra mechanism gives them a chance to land someone above the minimum.

But here’s the catch.

L.A. is operating just $1.28 million below the first-apron hard cap, meaning they can’t actually spend the full amount of the exception unless they trim salary somewhere else. Cap rules don’t budge for injuries, even a season-ending one.

The Clippers have until March 10 to use the DPE, if they can create enough breathing room to take advantage of it.