Following Steve Nash’s season ending injury, the Los Angeles Lakers will apply for a disabled player exception, according to Bill Oram of the OC Register. The exception will be worth nearly $4.85 million if the Lakers are granted with it by the NBA.
The Lakers plan on entering the regular season with 14 players on their roster, leaving one slot open just in case. Nash will have to either get traded or bought out for the Lakers to clear his contract off their pay roll. If he medically retires, his contract will remain on the Lakers’ pay roll until April.
Ronnie Price will now most certainly remain on the roster. The question is, what will the Lakers do to cut down to 14 players? They will have to either waive Wayne Ellington, who has been struggling with his shot during the preseason, or find a way to waive Steve Nash.
The most sensible move would be to buyout and waive Nash since he is not going to even play and would waste a roster spot, which is most precious for the Lakers at this point. With a possible disabled player exception, the Lakers could then wait it out and use the money on one final player to complete their roster or use it in a trade.