Heat Granted Salary Exception for Haslem’s Injury

Haslem will be ready for the Playoffs, but likely not before. From the South Florida Sun Sentinel: “Udonis Haslem’s foot injury might not be season ending, but in the eyes of the NBA there is a significant enough chance of that being that case with the veteran power forward that the Miami Heat have been extended a salary-cap injury exception, the Sun Sentinel learned Friday. By NBA rule, if a player is deemed to be lost for the season prior to Nov. 30, the team then is allowed to replace that player at half of his salary, up to the league’s average salary. For the Heat, that would allow for a replacement at up to $1.85 million up to Jan. 6. The exception can be utilized in a trade or free-agent signing. Should the Heat utilize the exception, it would mean excising a player currently under contract, since the exception does not allow for an additional roster spot and the Heat already are at the NBA’s 15-player maximum.”