Understand NBA Bird Rights and Free Agency

In this Knicks Central NBA lesson, we are taking a deep dive into NBA bird rights, what they mean and how they help NBA teams retain their top talent. The goal is to provide background on some of the games nuances to help expand your knowledge of the league.

As NBA fans, we will often hear terms but never really understand what they mean. We will rarely dig deeper into the nuts and bolts of the NBA, although in doing so, you can offer a unique perspective in many areas of free agency. On the surface they are simple, but there are some subtleties that you may not know about. That is the purpose of this article.

We are documenting the key considerations you need to know about this core free agency concept and the implications it has on trades, free agency and team strategy.

What are NBA Bird Rights?

The NBA is a league full of complex rules and regulations, and one of the most important of these is the concept of bird rights. Named after former Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird, bird rights allow teams to retain their own free agents by offering them larger contracts than other teams can. This is an essential part of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, and it gives teams a significant advantage in keeping their own players.

Related: Your comprehensive guide to understanding the NBA draft and lottery

How does free agency relate to the rule?

In order to understand bird rights, it’s important to first understand the concept of free agency in the NBA. When a player’s contract with a team comes to an end, they become a free agent, meaning that they are free to sign with any team that is interested in their services. This can lead to a lot of player movement, as teams try to sign the best available free agents in order to improve their rosters.

However, bird rights give teams a way to retain their own players, even if those players become free agents. Under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, teams have the right to exceed the salary cap in order to re-sign their own free agents, as long as those players have been with the team for a certain amount of time. This is known as the “Larry Bird exception,” and it allows teams to offer their own free agents more money than they could offer to players from other teams.

For example, let’s say that a player has been with the same team for five years. If that player becomes a free agent, their team can offer them a contract that is worth up to five years and 105% of their previous salary, even if it means exceeding the salary cap. This is a significant advantage, as it allows teams to retain their own players by offering them more money than they could offer to players from other teams.

New York Knicks history with NBA bird rights

The New York Knicks have made use of bird rights several times in recent years. In 2015, the Knicks used their bird rights to re-sign forward Carmelo Anthony to a five-year, $124 million contract. This allowed the Knicks to offer Anthony a much larger contract than they otherwise could have, and it allowed them to keep one of their star players in New York.

In 2017, the Knicks used their bird rights to re-sign guard Tim Hardaway Jr. to a four-year, $71 million contract. This was another instance in which the Knicks were able to offer a player more money than they otherwise could have, thanks to their bird rights.

But bird rights are not just useful for re-signing players who are already on a team’s roster. They can also be used to sign players who were previously with the team, but left in free agency. For example, in 2016, the Knicks used their bird rights to sign forward Courtney Lee to a four-year, $48 million contract. Lee had previously played for the Knicks, but had left in free agency to sign with another team. By using their bird rights, the Knicks were able to offer Lee a larger contract than they could have offered to a player from another team, and they were able to bring him back to New York.

Limitations of the rule

In general, bird rights are an important tool for NBA teams to retain their own players, and the Knicks have made use of them several times in recent years. These rights are an important part of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, and they give teams a significant advantage in keeping their own players.

However, there are some limitations to bird rights. For example, if a player has been with a team for less than three seasons, their team does not have the right to exceed the salary cap in order to re-sign them. In addition, there are limits to how much a team can offer a player using their bird rights. For players who have been with the team for three or fewer seasons, the maximum contract that a team can offer is four years and 120% of their previous salary. For players who have been with the team for four or more seasons, the maximum contract that a team can offer is five years and 105% of their previous salary.

Despite these limitations, bird rights remain an important tool for teams to retain their own players, and they are an essential part of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. By allowing teams to offer their own free agents larger contracts than they could offer to players from other teams, bird rights give teams a significant advantage in retaining their own players.

Conclusion

In conclusion, bird rights are an important concept in the NBA, and they are a key part of the league’s collective bargaining agreement. By allowing teams to offer their own free agents larger contracts than they could offer to players from other teams, bird rights give teams a significant advantage in retaining their own players. The New York Knicks have made use of bird rights several times in recent years, and they will likely continue to do so in the future.