RFAs and the salary cap

[MN Die Hard]

Ok we have Gomes, Smith, Bassy, Snyder, and Richard as restricted free agents.

Do we have Bird rights on any or all of them? Will they count against the MLE if we sign them? I'm assuming there cant be Bird rights for Richard since he's only been in the league one year. What about the others?

[deeney0]

Richard has a team option, not a RFA, so if we want to keep him there's no negotiating, it's in the neighborhood of 750k. Wolves have bird rights on the other four, so none of the money to keep them would come out of the MLE.

[MN Die Hard]

Thanks deeney.

[mwithers]

Just a side note:
Craig Smith does not qualify for the Larry Bird Exception because he has not been in the league for three years but he does qualify for the Early Bird Exception. Early Bird Exception is basically a weaker form of the Larry Bird Exception.

[MN Die Hard]

Doesnt early Bird mean you can sign him for an amount not to exceed the MLE, but you dont actually have to use the MLE to do it? Different from Bird rights in that full Bird rights do not limit the size of the contract?

[Basti]

it is OT but why is it called Larry Bird Exception?

[mwithers]

it is OT but why is it called Larry Bird Exception?

Celtics were the first to use it on Larry Bird.

[mwithers]

Doesnt early Bird mean you can sign him for an amount not to exceed the MLE, but you dont actually have to use the MLE to do it? Different from Bird rights in that full Bird rights do not limit the size of the contract?

With Larry Bird rights a team can sign their own fa to a salary up to the maximum with a 1-6 yr contract. Qualifications are 3 seasons without changing teams as a free agent.

With Early Bird rights a team can sign their own fa to a salary up to 175% of their previus years salary or the average salary, whichever is higher with a 2-5 yr contract. Qualifications are 2 seasons without changing teams as a free agent.

[Basti]

-= original quote snipped =-



Celtics were the first to use it on Larry Bird.

cool thx