The Bulls have been awarded a disabled player exception as a result of Noa Essengue‘s season-ending shoulder injury, reports Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link).
An NBA team becomes eligible for a disabled player exception when one of its players sustains an injury that is considered more likely than not to sideline him through June 15 of that league year. The Bulls announced earlier this month that Essengue, the 12th overall pick in this year’s draft, would be out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to address a shoulder injury.
A disabled player exception doesn’t grant the team an extra roster spot, but it generates some additional cap flexibility. The exception can be used to acquire a player on an expiring contract via trade or waiver claim, or to sign a free agent to a one-year deal.
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The value of the disabled player exception is equivalent to either the non-taxpayer mid-level exception or half of the injured player’s salary, whichever is lesser. Since Essengue’s cap hit is $5,429,520, well below the mid-level, the Bulls’ new DPE is worth $2,714,760.
Chicago hasn’t used any portion of its mid-level or bi-annual exception this season and also has a portion of a trade exception still available, so that modest disabled player exception may simple expire without being used. Still, it’s one more minor tool for the team to work with as it explores the trade market this winter. It’s possible, for example, that the Bulls could create a larger trade exception than they otherwise would have by taking a small salary into that DPE as part of a multi-player trade at the deadline.
Essengue, who played just six total minutes across two NBA appearances after being selected in the lottery in June, is expected to be fully healthy for the start of his second season in 2026/27.