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The Boston Celtics get a break from the league office, as Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania has reported that the NBA has granted the team an $8.4 million disabled player exception to help mitigate the impact of the absence of Gordon Hayward.
Sources: The NBA has granted Boston an $8.4M disabled player exception for the loss of Gordon Hayward for the season. The DPE expires March 10.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 27, 2017
The Celtics entered the 2017-18 season reenergized and full of confidence after clearly having a successful summer in which they had quite a haul of players, including the then much-sought-after free agent Hayward. But their championship aspirations hit a major snag right out of the gate when the forward suffered a gruesome leg injury on Oct. 17 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
By getting a disabled player exception, the Celtics are free to look for help without hurting their salary cap situation. That said, the team doesn’t need to make a rash decision, as the exception is set to expire several months from now on March 10.
For the meantime, the Celtics are relying on a platoon approach in trying to fill in the loss of Hayward. Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and even Terry Rozier have all stepped up to help Boston stabilize after its devastating loss of Gordon Hayward.
Among notable names currently on the free agent waiver wire are David Lee, Matt Barnes, Spencer Hawes, Roy Hibbert, Monta Ellis, and Jordan Crawford. None of these players are going to match what Hayward brings to the table, but Boston likely wouldn’t deny themselves of using the exception the NBA handed the team.
