The New Orleans Pelicans have been awarded a $3.625 million disabled player exception for the loss of Darius Miller, according to a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The Pelicans filed for the player exception last week, as Miller is projected to miss the entire 2019-20 NBA season.
The NBA has awarded the Pelicans the $3.625M Disabled Player Exception for loss of Darius Miller, league sources say. https://t.co/uPcLyOFNC9
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 24, 2019
Miller was initially diagnosed last month with the injury, as he tore his achilles and will be sidelined from anywhere between seven to eight months. To be awarded a disabled player exception, an NBA-designated doctor must inspect the player and determine that there is a more likely than not chance of the player missing the year. With Miller still just beginning his recovery, he’ll likely be down for the year.
With the disabled player exception, the Pelicans won’t have a 16th roster spot open, but will be able to save a bit of money thanks to the additional award. The exception can be used to either sign a free agent to a one-year deal, or acquire someone else via trade or waivers.
Despite the awarding of the exception, the Pelicans will still surely miss Miller. He was coming off of a solid year with the Pelicans, where he averaged 8.2 points on 46.7 shooting in a purely off the bench role for the team. With a slew of new, young incoming players, the Pelicans were likely looking to Miller to help offset that, or at the very least, provide some veteran leadership to the team.
Instead, Miller will spend most of his season rehabbing from the torn achilles, with the hopes to return next season for the Pelicans or any other team.
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