Bird Rights Chapter closes after the NBA and players association reach a mutual agreement
The much discussed Bird Rights chapter has come to a close after NBA officials and players association reached an agreement regarding the players being waived off. According to the new agreement, the players being waived off will
have their ‘early bird rights’ but are only eligible to full Bird rights if they are being claimed by the league amnesty clause.
This new ruling would be highly beneficial for Chauncey Billups, J.J Hickson, Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak. All four had been waived off and were looking ahead to the agreement as it would lift the huge question mark from their futures.
These players had been granted Bird Rights after the decision went in favour of players association earlier this month which came as a surprise to many who had been following the saga.
However David Stern filed an appeal against the decision earlier this week – claiming the leagues stand point that these players are not eligible for Bird rights, having signed for different teams before the start of the season.
As per the Bird Rights rule, a player being waived off can be re-signed with the same team regardless of the salary cap, granted they had spent two or more years with the same organization.
But after reaching a mutual agreement between the league officials and the NBPA, NBA Commissioner has decided to call of the appeal.
The team that would be highly benefiting from this decision are the New York Knicks, a team which made it clear that they are going to do everything possible to bring back Lin, their break through performer from last season.
Lin had helped revitalize the big apple franchise with his performances midway during the season before being injured for the last few weeks. The decision would also make possible the return of sharp shooting Novak to the Knicks.
In accordance with this new ruling, Lin and Novak have been granted ‘early bird rights’ whereas Billups and Hickson have secured full ‘Bird Rights’ as they had been amnestied by the Knicks before the start of the season.
This decision will also help the Los Angeles Clippers re-sign Billups to play alongside Chris Paul and Eric Bledsoe at the guard position, as they have already let Mo Williams use his player option to go back to Utah Jazz.
Tags: