In the NBA, bird rights are a powerful tool that allow teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents. But what happens to those bird rights when a player is traded to another team? Do the bird rights transfer over to the new team? Let’s take a closer look at how bird rights work and the answer to this question.
What are Bird Rights in the NBA?
Larry Bird rights, more commonly referred to as just “bird rights,” are named after the legendary Boston Celtics player. They were created as part of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and allow teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own players in free agency.
Specifically, bird rights apply to players who have played for their current team for at least three consecutive seasons without changing teams as a free agent. This allows teams to offer their bird rights players a maximum salary contract, even if it pushes them over the salary cap.
For example, if a team has a player on a $20 million per year contract, and only has $10 million in cap space available, they can utilize that player’s bird rights to re-sign them to a $30 million per year contract. This exceeds the cap but is allowable due to the bird rights.
Bird rights are highly valuable in the NBA because they give teams salary cap flexibility to retain their star players. Teams can go over the cap to sign their tenured players, while still using cap space to sign other free agents.
Do Bird Rights Transfer in Trades?
The key question is – if a player is traded to a new team, do his bird rights transfer over to that new team? Or do they get stripped away in the trade?
The answer is that yes, bird rights do transfer over to a player’s new team in a trade. This is an important CBA provision that ensures trades remain fair for both teams.
For example, if the Lakers traded for a player in the final year of his contract who had full bird rights with his original team, the Lakers would inherit those full bird rights. This would allow them to re-sign that player even if they were over the salary cap.
Without bird rights transferring, that player’s original team would gain an unfair advantage in trade talks. They would never have to worry about losing a star player for nothing, as other teams could not exceed the cap to re-sign traded players. The team receiving the trade player would be severely hampered in their ability to retain that player.
So the CBA wisely established that bird rights do indeed transfer to any NBA team that trades for a player who holds such rights.
Requirements for Bird Rights to Transfer
There are a couple key requirements for bird rights to transfer over to a new team in a trade:
- The player must consent to the trade. If the player vetoes or blocks a potential trade scenario, the bird rights do not transfer.
- The traded player’s bird rights can only be used by the new team for a contract of up to the maximum salary. For example, they could not use the rights to give that player a special $50 million per year contract.
- The traded player must still meet all eligibility rules for bird rights – for example, being with the same team for 3+ consecutive seasons.
As long as the trade is consented to and follows NBA rules, the bird rights make the transition to the player’s new team.
Types of Bird Rights
There are different levels of bird rights that can transfer over in a trade:
- Non-Bird Rights – For players with 1 year of service on their current team. This allows teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign the player to a contract for up to 120% of their previous salary.
- Early Bird Rights – For players with 2 years of service on their current team. This allows teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign the player to a contract for up to 175% of their previous salary.
- Full Bird Rights – For players with 3+ years of service on their current team. This allows teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign the player to a maximum salary contract.
The higher the level of bird rights, the greater salary the player’s new team can offer in re-signing them. Full bird rights are the most powerful and flexible.
Examples of Bird Rights Transferring in Trades
There have been a number of high profile examples in recent years of bird rights transferring over to a new team in a blockbuster NBA trade:
- James Harden – When traded from the Rockets to the Nets in 2021, Harden’s full bird rights transferred. This enabled the Nets to re-sign Harden to a massive $198 million extension.
- Anthony Davis – The Lakers dealt for Davis in 2019 and inherited his full bird rights from the Pelicans. They used those rights to re-sign Davis to a 5 year, $189 million contract.
- Chris Paul – Paul’s bird rights went to the Rockets when he was traded by the Clippers in 2017. The Rockets leveraged those rights to sign CP3 to a 4 year, $160 million max extension.
As you can see, superstar players on max contracts have their sizable bird rights transfer over when they are dealt. This gives their new teams the ability to retain them long-term by going over the cap.
Trading Away Bird Rights Players
What happens when a team trades away one of its players who holds bird rights? The bird rights immediately transfer to the receiving team.
For example, when the Nets traded D’Angelo Russell to the Warriors in 2019, his bird rights went along with him. This enabled the Warriors to re-sign Russell to a 4 year, $117 million contract despite being over the cap.
Teams need to be cautious when trading players with bird rights, as they may be empowering a rival team with new salary cap flexibility.
Other Salary Matching Rules in Trades
While bird rights transfer freely to accommodate re-signing traded players, there are other NBA trade rules around salary matching:
- For teams over the salary cap, salaries in a trade must match within 125% plus $100,000. For example, if trading a $10 million salary, the return must be between $8 million to $12.1 million.
- Teams under the cap have more flexibility, only needing salaries to match within 175% plus $100,000.
- Teams can include draft picks with value up to $5 million to help make salaries match.
These rules prevent teams from acquiring players in trades when they don’t have matching salaries to send out. Bird rights provide flexibility on re-signing traded players, while other rules mandate fair value salary exchanges.
Bird Exception for Sign-and-Trade Deals
The bird exception also comes into play in sign-and-trade deals. For example, if a team wants to sign-and-trade an upcoming free agent, they can exceed the salary cap using that player’s bird rights to give them a bigger new contract.
An example was Kawhi Leonard’s 2019 sign-and-trade from Toronto to the Clippers. Even though the Clippers were over the cap, they could sign Kawhi to a max deal due to Toronto’s bird rights, then immediately trade him.
Without bird rights, sign-and-trade deals would be far more difficult to negotiate. Stars would lose leverage in talks and have a harder time orchestrating moves as free agents.
Waiving Bird Rights
One scenario where bird rights do not transfer over is when they are waived by the player’s previous team. This is rarely done, but teams do have the right to waive bird rights on a player they are trading away or releasing.
For example, if the Rockets wanted to trade James Harden but prevent his new team from receiving his bird rights, they could waive his bird rights before making the trade. Harden’s new team would then inherit him as a regular player without special rights.
However, this almost never happens, as it severely weakens the former team’s leverage and trade package. Typically the only time bird rights are waived is when a player requests his rights be waived for personal reasons.
Traded Player Exceptions
One related provision is the Traded Player Exception (TPE). If in some scenarios a team trades away a player but does not take salary back, they receive a TPE equal to that departing player’s salary.
This functions like an expiring bird rights, allowing the team to acquire another player via trade or free agency up to the TPE amount without sending out matching salary.
For example, if a team traded a $10 million player for a future draft pick, they would have a $10 million TPE to use within one year. This helps provide roster flexibility after uneven trades.
Conclusion
To summarize the key points:
- Bird rights transfer to a player’s new team when he is traded, providing salary cap flexibility.
- The bird rights can only be used to re-sign that player to a maximum salary contract.
- Non-bird, early bird, and full bird rights all transfer over in trades.
- Teams must be careful when trading away players with bird rights.
- Other CBA rules still require salaries to match in trades, with bird rights only impacting re-signing traded players.
While complex, these rules ensure that valuable bird rights transfer through trades. This provides fairness and flexibility for players changing teams and the teams involved.