Nash ruled out for the season with a back injury…
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The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly been granted a $4.85m disabled player exception by the NBA for Steve Nash, according to league sources.
The Lakers are currently 3-11 for the season but they lost their veteran point guard before the campaign even started after he suffered another setback with a back injury.
Nash has been plagued by back problems over the past two years, and after straining it during pre-season, he aggravated the problem while carrying travelling bags and was therefore scratched for the season.
Meanwhile, both Xavier Henry and rookie Julius Randle have also been ruled out for the year with a ruptured Achilles and broken leg respectively, as the Lakers continue to suffer from an injury curse which stretches back the past two years.
The Lakers can use the exception granted for Nash to sign or trade for a player while they were previously awarded a $1.5m disabled player exception for Randle.
The two exceptions, which both expire on March 10, can’t be combined.
Nash has only played 65 games in two-plus seasons with the Lakers because of injuries, but the 40-year-old has not yet announced his retirement despite the fact that he is currently in the final year of his contract that pays him $9.7m this season.
While he can still be used in a trade, it remains to be seen what the Lakers opt to do as there is little chance of anything meaningful being achieved this season as they continue to lose players to injury.
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