RealGM

so i was reviewing stuff on Non-Bird Free Agents and it seems to me that a waived player can be a Non-Bird Free Agent (i.e. if Sam Cassell did not sign with anyone after being waived, the Clips would still be able to re-sign him with the Non-Bird Exception this summer).

So my question really has to do with how a player's previous salary is calculated when talking about the Non-Bird Free Agent (i.e. in Cassell's case, is it what he was paid minus what he gave up in the buyout amount). This also makes it seem like a player who was given a 10 day contract to would also be a non-bird F/A if it's the last team he played for (so even if he just received one 10 day contract, he would be a Non bird F/A for that team, assuming he signed with no one else afterwards). What salary is used there when looking at potential Non-Bird Amounts for the future season?

I guess there's also the question of what happens with pro-ration regarding the Non-Bird Exception - if a player receives the full reduced amount (after Jan 10th), does he then get raises based on the full, unreduced exception or the actual amount he received.

If a team waives a player, as happened in the case of Cassell, he doesn't have any non-Bird FA status. Non-Bird status only goes to FAs who weren't waived or renounced and have less than two years of service with a team.

Dunkenstein wrote:If a team waives a player, as happened in the case of Cassell, he doesn't have any non-Bird FA status. Non-Bird status only goes to FAs who weren't waived or renounced and have less than two years of service with a team.

I certainly agree with the renounced part and the less than 2 years of service part... but are you certain about the waived part... I'm going to state my case by citing the portions that made me come to my conclusion. I know i tend to take the CBA literally, but I don't think this logic is too ridiculous.... okay so here we go:

as defined in Article I,
(kk)

^ great, thanks, did not catch the Veteran Free Agent part... I'm glad it also mentions the concept of a Rookie Free Agent too. Thanks a lot

You had me doing a lot of research and analysis at 1am here in California.

I'm glad it was worth it.

haha, well it was 4am here on the east coast, but i appreciate it

Yeah, Dunkenstein nailed it. BTW, I asked the league about this once, and they said a waived player is the canonical example of a player who did NOT complete his contract.