Two years ago, the Chicago Bulls decided they were done rebuilding the roster and pushed their chips on the table in an attempt to be competitive. They traded for Nikola Vucevic at the 2021 trade deadline and signed DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, and Lonzo Ball the following summer.
Unfortunately for Chicago, they have won just a single playoff game since then, and a big reason why has been the absence of Ball. Just 35 games into his Bulls tenure, Ball got injured, and he has yet to step foot on the court. Now, it’s looking like he’s going to miss all of next year, too.
However, the Bulls applied for a $10.2 million Designated Player Exception due to Ball’s injury, and they were recently granted it.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported the news on Twitter.
“The NBA has granted the Bulls a $10.2 million Disabled Player Exception for the season-ending loss of Lonzo Ball, sources say,” Charania tweeted.
With the exception, the Bulls have a bit of wiggle room heading into the rest of the summer and into next season.
The DPE allows them to sign or trade for a player using the money. Should they sign a player, however, it could only be a one-year deal.
NBA free agency has been stripped thin, but at the very least, the Bulls now have another tool in their toolbox to work with moving forward, and it could potentially help them down the road.
Obviously, the Bulls would rather have Ball back healthy, but in the meantime, they’ll have to settle for the DPE.
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Story originally appeared on Lonzo Wire