Wizards Applying for Disabled Player Exception May Mean John Wall Will Miss Next Season Entirely

The Washington Wizards have applied for a disabled player exception for the injured John Wall Tuesday, according to Sam Vecenie of the Athletic.

https://twitter.com/Sam_Vecenie/status/1146068851227938816

The decision by the Wizards could indicate the team anticipates Wall will miss the entire 2019-20 season, as he recovers from a torn Achilles, according to Candace Buckner of the Washington Post.

Wizards applying for the DPE does NOT mean they’ve ruled Wall out for the year. It could mean that but the application alone isn’t enough to say so. It does, however, mean they think an independent doctor could believe he’s out for the year & they could get an exception out of it

— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) July 2, 2019

If the Wizards are granted the DPE, they’ll receive a non-taxpayer mid-level exception to use on a player in signing or trade or waiver claim at the amount of $9.258 million.

They would have until Mar. 10 to use the DPE and it could only be used on a one-year deal.

Meanwhile, Wall is rehabbing with the goal of playing next season. However, if the Wizards think he Wall will miss the season, Wall’s camp will “definitely work” with the team, according to Buckner.

Wall missed 50 games last season, as he initially underwent season-ending surgery on his heel. However, he suffered a ruptured Achilles during a fall at his home shortly afterwards. Now, instead of returning at or around beginning of the season, he is in danger of missing the 2019-20 entirely.

Washington was granted an DPE last season for Wall, and used it on Wesley Johnson after acquiring him in the Markieff Morris trade with Oklahoma City.

The Wizards received a DPE for Wall this past year and used it VERY cleverly. With it about to expire, instead of just taking Wes Johnson onto the team during the Keef Morris trade, they slid him into the DPE, creating an $8.6M trade exception that doesn’t expire til February

— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) July 2, 2019

This season the Wizards have little to no cap space to operate. They currently have trade exceptions that range from $694,000 to $8.6 million, as well as the NBA’s Bi-annual exception, according to Spotrac. However, only one exception can be used per season and most will expiring this year.

An DPE will give Washington yet another option if they so choose.

With the anticipated signings of center Thomas Bryant and guards Ish Smith and Isaiah Thomas, the Wizards will be have an active roster payroll of roughly $123.2 million, leaving them $9.4 million shy of the NBA’s luxury tax threshold.