The Utah Jazz suffered a major blow last week after losing veteran forward Thabo Sefolosha for the remainder of the season. He underwent surgery to repair the avulsion in his right MCL and is scheduled to begin his long rehabilitation process as soon as possible.

That said, the Jazz applied for a disabled player exception from the NBA, which will allow them to take his salary off their books and also add a free agent.

The team was awarded the exception which will give them some room to maneuver the Swiss international's roster spot and cap hit, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Despite filing for the exception beyond the set deadline, the Jazz were awarded with the DPE as a league-designated physician determined Sefolosha will indeed miss a significant amount of time, as reported by Ryan Aston of Fan Sided.

“There had been some concern over whether it would be possible to gain approval for the DPE. The application deadline was on January 15, just three days after Sefolosha incurred the injury in a game against the Charlotte Hornets. The exception also required a determination by a league-designated physician. The Jazz managed to get in just under the wire.”

The Jazz will now be able to sign a free agent or claim a player off waivers to take over Sefolosha's place. However, that player should be in the final year of their contract and must not be making more than the exception amount awarded to Utah. It can still be considered good news for the Jazz, as it will give them the ability to decide what to do with their open roster spot.