Players Claimed From Waivers Will Retain Early Bird Rights
The NBA announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with the NBA Players Association of the recent arbitration proceeding filed on behalf of Chauncey Billups, J.J. Hickson, Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak.
Under the settlement, the union agreed to limit the scope of the ruling by arbitrator Kenneth Dam in exchange for the league's agreement to drop its appeal. The rule will now be that players who are claimed from waivers will have the same "Early Bird" rights as if they had been traded, but will not have full "Bird" rights unless they are claimed through the league's amnesty procedure.
Below are the players on whose behalf the arbitration proceeding was brought and their status when free agency opens on July 1:
Chauncey Billups - Bird
J.J. Hickson - Bird
Jeremy Lin - Early Bird
Steve Novak - Early Bird