Continuing the discussion of how players have signed around the league, we now look at the very popular exception – the Bird exception. The Bird exception is named after Larry Bird and lets teams go over the salary cap to re-sign their own players. The purpose of this exception is to allow teams to re-sign their star players regardless of their current cap situation.
Very briefly, a player can become eligible to be re-signed under the Bird exception if they have played on the same team for three years or longer. There are many more rules to this exception and a more detailed breakdown of those rules can be viewed here.
If a player signs a contract with the Bird exception they are eligible to sign a max salary contract that increases up to 7.5% each year for a maximum of five years. The maximum salary amount is determined by the amount of years the player has played in the NBA. For example, the maximum salary in 2013/14 for a player with 0-6 years’ experience is $13.70MM, 7-9 years’ experience $16.44MM, and 10+ years’ experience $19.18MM.
A team is also allowed to sign players under what is called the Non-Bird Exception, and Early Bird Exception but we will focus on those another time. For now, below is a team by team list of players who were signed using the Bird Exception.
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics
- Brooklyn Nets
- Charlotte Bobcats
- Chicago Bulls
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Dallas Mavericks
- Denver Nuggets
- Detroit Pistons
- Golden State
- Houston Rockets
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Miami Heat
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- New York Knicks
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Orlando Magic
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Phoenix Suns
- Portland Trailblazers
- Sacramento Kings
- San Antonio Spurs
- Toronto Raptors
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards
StorytellersContracts and ShamSports were used in the creation of this post.