The Los Angeles Lakers were recently granted a disabled player exception for DeMarcus Cousins. What does this mean for the team?
After a strong free agency for the Los Angeles Lakers, they suffered an early blow before the season even started.
One of their key free agency signings, DeMarcus Cousins, was injured in an offseason workout. Injuries were certainly a concern when the Lakers signed Cousins given his recent injury history.
Prior to Cousins signing with the Golden State Warriors last season, he suffered a devastating injury with the New Orleans Pelicans. The torn Achilles suffered by Cousins took a long time for him to come back from as expected.
While he never reached his normal All-Star level of play with the Warriors, Cousins was showing signs of getting back to his old self. However, in the playoffs, Cousins suffered a torn quad in the first round.
Cousins was able to return for the NBA Finals, but he was clearly nowhere near 100 percent. His lateral movement was quite slow, and the Raptors were able to exploit him on the defensive end of the court.
As a free agent once again this summer, Cousins worked on getting into great shape. The Lakers were able to convince him to sign, as he was reunited with Anthony Davis and Rajon Rondo. Unfortunately, Cousins torn his ACL in Las Vegas working out and will likely be out for the rest of the season.
The Lakers applied for a disabled player exception and were granted it according to Shams Charania
The Lakers have been granted a disabled player exception worth $1.75M from the NBA for the expected season-ending ACL injury to DeMarcus Cousins, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. It expires on March 10, 2020.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 19, 2019
While this exception wasn’t worth a ton of money, it could be a useful tool for the Lakers later in the season. As of now, the Lakers wouldn’t have enough money to give a veteran like J.R. Smith or Carmelo Anthony a veteran minimin since they have been in the league for more than 10 years. However, the Lakers would still have to waive a player, which would likely be Cousins.
The exception for the Lakers could become useful after the trade deadline. When players are bought out from their teams after the deadline, the Lakers will have some extra money to throw at guys.
In all likelihood, the exception for the Lakers really won’t come into play until around February. However, it could help them land a useful piece for the playoff push.