Lakers granted $4.85M disabled player exception for Steve Nash

Reinforcements may finally be on the way for the Los Angeles Lakers.

With Julius Randle, Steve Nash and now Xavier Henry all out for the season, the Lakers are in desperate need of healthy bodies. The NBA came through for them on Tuesday, granting the Lakers a disabled player exception, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.

A disabled player exception allows a team that's over the cap to replace a player who is out for the season. The team can then sign a free agent for up to 50 percent of the disabled player's salary, or the $5.31-million midlevel exception - whichever is less. That team can also trade for a player in the final year of his contract with a salary up to either of those figures, plus $100,000.

The exception for Nash is worth $4.85 million. The Lakers have already been awarded a $1.5-million exception for Randle as well. The two exceptions expire on March 10 and cannot be combined.

The exceptions give the Lakers the flexibility to expand their roster to as many as 17 players. It currently stands at 15, but has just 12 healthy bodies, and the team could use help all over the floor.

Last week, the Lakers worked out a handful of players who could be candidates to be signed. You can read about those players in the post below.