http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/sport ... d=tw-share
Interestingly, it could potentially effect not just Lin, but also Billups who was amnestied claimed (as well as Novak and Hickson).
Novak and Lin were in position to earn their early-Bird rights before they were waived last December, Novak by San Antonio and Lin by Golden State. (Lin was subsequently claimed, and waived again, by Houston, before joining the Knicks.)
Hickson and Billups had full Bird rights before being waived (Hickson by Sacramento and Billups by the Knicks).