draft rights? does a team ever loses those?

[Macedonianbull]

Does one team ever lose a draft right to a unsigned draft pick. Even if the team neatly extends a qualifying offer every year for the past X years. What if that player is retired 5 years back? Could he still be traded today as an insignificant throw in some trade? It has to be some time frame of ownership, right? Is this issue fixed in the new CBA?

[DBoys]

There are many scenarios under which a team would lose a player's draft rights. They are more likely to last forever-ish on a 2nd rounder, since those rights don't impact a team's cap or bear any risk of the team having to give guaranteed money to a player that can no longer play.

In the one you outline, the player has retired. Once he has gone for a year without being under contract to an outside team, those exclusive rights end. He would go into the next draft and could be selected. However, if I read it correctly, the player has to give notice to the team holding his rights that he's no longer contracted elsewhere, in order for that one year clock to count down. Once that one year ends, if he hasn't been signed by the team holding his rights, he goes into the next NBA draft.

None of this is new. It's in Article X.

[Macedonianbull]

First of all, thank you for replying.

Within your explanation you said that second round picks are likely to last forever since those rights don't affect team salary in any way. Basically their rights are still lost when they retire (one year after that), right? What if the player simply retires and doesn't inform the team holding his rights that he is no longer contracted anywhere? What about that minimum (?) non-guaranteed qualifying offer every team is supposed to tender at its unsigned draft picks? This topic is rather confusing.

[DBoys]

Within your explanation you said that second round picks are likely to last forever since those rights don't affect team salary in any way. Basically their rights are still lost when they retire (one year after that), right?

It appears to me that the one year clock does not start (and therefore cannot run out) unless the player sends official notice that starts it. And if a player retires with no interest in playing again, they don't have anything motivating them to send that letter, which would apparently allow those rights to remain on the team's list of players they have rights for.

What if the player simply retires and doesn't inform the team holding his rights that he is no longer contracted anywhere? What about that minimum (?) non-guaranteed qualifying offer every team is supposed to tender at its unsigned draft picks?

The team could keep making that required tender every year until they tired of doing so, it appears. It doesn't cost them cap room or a roster spot so there's no downside.