The Detroit Pistons have reportedly applied for a disabled-player exception for injured All-Star Blake Griffin, per Kurt Helin of NBC Sports.

The 30-year old forward recently underwent a second arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and will be out for a significant amount of time. Detroit applying for the exception may mean that the Pistons do not expect him to be back at some point this 2019-20 season.

Teams can apply for a disabled-player exception (DPE) when one of their players go down with an injury considered to be season-ending. If the team is granted the exception, they can use the exception to acquire a player on the final year of his deal, either through trade, free agent signing, or via the waiver wire.

Griffin's DPE, if granted, would reportedly be worth $9.2 million.

Griffin missed the first 10 games of the 2019-20 season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery in the off-season. He returned and played in 18 games, but it was clear that his knee still wasn't feeling right.

If this is indeed the season for Griffin, he finishes his 10th NBA season with averages of 15.5 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting just 35.2 percent from the field. All of these numbers were career-lows.

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Chalk this one up as a lost season for the Pistons. Detroit has a lot of decisions to think about following Griffin's seemingly season-ending surgery.

Teams have reportedly inquired about making a deal to acquire All-Star center Andre Drummond from the Pistons. Perhaps he could be the first chip to fall as Detroit fully embraces a rebuild.

Should the Pistons ship Drummond out of town, they would also likely try to find a suitor for Griffin. But given the huge amount of money left in his deal ($36.6-million next season and a player option worth $38.9-million in 2021-22) it might be hard to find a team willing to take on that bloated contract of an aging, injury prone former All-Star.