Wizards given $4.16M DPE for Thomas Bryant

The NBA has given the Wizards a $4.16M disabled-player exception to account for the loss of starting center Thomas Bryant, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. Bryant will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn left ACL last month. Charania adds that the disabled-player exception expires on April 19.

The disabled-player exception can be applied toward adding a player via free agency, the waiver wire or a trade. The Wizards’ new $4.16M DPE is half of Bryant’s $8,333,333 salary for the 2020-21. Thus, any new player added through the DPE cannot be earning more than that amount (plus $100K).

There are a few more stipulations for the Wizards to take into account. The DPE can be exercised on only one player on a one-year deal. A free-agent addition can be added only for the single year of the exception. Any player added through a trade or waivers has to be in the last season of his own deal.

Journeyman center Alex Len has already been added to help make up for the positional loss of Bryant, and he is currently starting in Bryant’s stead. Backup Robin Lopez is sharing the center minutes burden.  The 6-16 Wizards could use the new exception address one of their other needs across their underperforming roster.