In a story first broken by MyFOXHouston’s Mark Berman, the Rockets have been granted the disabled player exception for center Yao Ming. Yao, who played just five games this season before hitting the IR for a stress fracture in his ankle, will miss the rest of the season.
The Rockets petition gives them, essentially, another mid-level exception (~$5.765 million) to take on in trades or free agent signings, as long as those acquisitions are completed by January 31st.
In the end, it’s just another tool for Daryl Morey to use as he looks to go on a trading spree towards the deadline. Of course, the caveat is that this exception expires before the deadline, which could propel the Rockets into a trade in the next couple of weeks rather than at the deadline. We shall see, though. Thus far the Rockets haven’t found an offer that they’ve really liked.