Report: Lakers Granted Disabled Player Exception for DeMarcus Cousins

Published by

Brad Sullivan

September 19, 2019 2:01 am

On Wednsday, the Los Angeles Lakers received a small bit of good news when they were granted a disabled player exception of $1.75 million for injured center DeMarcus Cousins.

The amount in question is half of what Cousins was scheduled to earn for the 2019-20 season. Exactly how long he’s expected to be out with the ACL injury he suffered last month is unknown, but the Lakers don’t appear confident that he’ll be able to play during the campaign.

Obtaining a player of Cousins’ caliber with that available money isn’t likely, though things could be interesting once the February trade deadline passes. That’s usually the time when veterans typically ask to be bought out of their deals.

Ironically, another aspect of the use of the disabled player exception could pertain to Cousins. That’s due to the fact that signing a player to such a deal means that someone on the Lakers would have to be released, with Cousins being a strong candidate since he only signed a one-year deal with the club.

Brad Sullivan

Brad is a freelance writer for LakersDaily.com, who can clearly recall watching Lakers games in 1972 as they captured the first of their 11 Los Angeles-based titles. The franchise's evolution into a beloved and iconic franchise among its fan base since that memorable year allows for a wider perspective to be a part of his writing about the team's current fortunes.