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I know a guy like Cousins who was traded with like a year and a half on his contract had his bird rights transferred to the Pelicans. But with other players (seems like players in the last year of a contract) are traded, these bird rights don't transfer?

Is it anyone traded with 1+ year has his bird rights transferred?

bwgood77 wrote:I know a guy like Cousins who was traded with like a year and a half on his contract had his bird rights transferred to the Pelicans. But with other players (seems like players in the last year of a contract) are traded, these bird rights don't transfer?

Is it anyone traded with 1+ year has his bird rights transferred?

It’s related to the years signed, not the years left.

So if a guy signed a 3 year deal and is traded in the last year full bird rights follow.

It is when a guy signs a deal that is too short for normal bird rights ... but was on the team before and thus will have bird rights that the rights don’t trade with the player.

Examples:
Suns sign Levron and Len each to a 3 year deal next summer.
They trade both and normal bird rights follow as you get those after 3 years, regardless of when they trade them.

Suns sign Lebron and Len to 1 year deals next summer. Lebron won’t have full bird rights in a year. Len would because he has been on Phx before the deal. Trading Lebron has no full bird rights then. So trading Len has his ‘extra’ bird rights removed.

To answer it another way ....

Bird rights takes 3 years with the same team to acquire. If traded, those rights (as they are being accumulated) generally travel with them. On the other hand, if a player changes teams as a free agent, or is waived (and not claimed)*, then their Bird "clock" restarts. So if a player goes 3+ years and is on the same team the whole time, or only changes teams via trade, then in general they will have Bird rights at the end of the contract.

But there is an exception to the above. If a player signs a one-year deal as a free agent with the same (prior) team, his Bird clock restarts if he is traded. (A one-year deal with an option that has not been exercised is considered a one-year deal only; but, if there is an option and it is exercised prior to trade, then it is considered a two-year deal, and the restart does not apply.)

The exceptions are not that common, but get a lot of attention because they are unusual, being exceptions to the general rule that Bird rights stay intact in the event of a trade.

(*If waived and claimed, rights retained are limited to Early Bird rights status.)