Detroit Pistons granted $9.2 million disabled player exception for Blake Griffin

The Detroit Pistons have received a $9.2 million disabled player exception from the NBA tied to Blake Griffin undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The NBA granting the exception means both parties are of the belief the Griffin injury is season ending, and he is ineligible to return at all this season, already an extremely unlikely scenario.

Just because the Pistons applied for the exception, and just because it was granted does not mean it will be used. In fact, it almost certainly won’t be.

The Pistons already have 15 players under contract and are literally less than $4,000 from hitting the luxury tax, which they are sure to avoid at all cost.

That means even though they have the ability to sign someone for up to $9.2 million does not mean the scenario is at all likely.

That could change, I suppose, if there is a trade involving a veteran such as Andre Drummond, Langston Galloway or Derrick Rose, but usually those types of deals match salaries pretty closely.

This is more a move of due diligence and better to have the exception in case you need it as opposed to having any intention whatsoever of using it.