Back on Oct. 28, the Los Angeles Lakers suffered yet another major blow to their roster losing rookie forward Julius Randle to a season-ending leg injury in the season opener against the Houston Rockets.
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As if losing Steve Nash for the year and Nick Young for at least the first month of the season wasn’t bad enough, the team’s best young player will miss the rest of his rookie season in Los Angeles.
Fortunately, despite losing their top prospect from the 2014 NBA draft to a season-ending injury, the Lakers have reportedly been granted a Disabled Player Exception by the league, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein:
Lakers, I'm told, have been granted a Disabled Player Exception after losing Julius Randle for the season worth nearly $1.5 million
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) November 11, 2014
With the exception being granted by the league, the Lakers can now sign a player to help deal with the void left by Randle’s absence. Stein explains what the Lakers can do moving forward and the time limit in which they’ll have to make a move to bring in another player:
Lakers will have until March 10 to use the exception to either sign a player or claim one off waivers in the $1.5 million range
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) November 11, 2014
Recently, the Lakers have been linked to free agent Quincy Miller. The Denver Nuggets released Miller late last month and the Lakers are rumored to be interested in signing the 21-year-old small forward.
With Wesley Johnson continuing to struggle and Young out until the end of this month or later, the Lakers may role the dice on Miller to provide more depth at the three spot.
Although Miller will likely be an option for Los Angeles, it is uncertain what the team’s plans are using the exception granted by the league.
[divide]Lakers Julius Randle Post Surgery, Talks Motivation, Future Plan