Bulls get $10.2M disabled player exception for Lonzo Ball, sources say

The Chicago Bulls have been awarded a $10.2 million disabled player exception because of the season-ending knee injury to guard Lonzo Ball, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

The club applied for the exception last week, ESPN previously reported.

The exception allows a team to replace a player who is out for the season. The Bulls would be allowed to trade or claim a player only in the final year of their contract or sign a free agent to a one-year deal.

Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas said on draft night that the team did not expect Ball, who has not played since Jan. 2022, to return for this upcoming season. Ball underwent cartilage transplant surgery in March.