Understanding Bird Rights: What they mean and how they impact the Celtics' future

One of the most complicated parts of the NBA for fans is the ins and outs of team building during the offseason. There are complex rules about what a team can and can’t do with certain players, how much a team can offer a free agent, what happens when a team goes into the luxury tax and much more.

I write a lot about the particulars of these rules, but one of the common requests I’ve received at BSJ is to simplify an explanation of these tricky CBA rules and terms and how they apply to the Celtics. Over the upcoming month, we will take a weekly look at some of the common phrases and rules I used that are involved in the collective bargaining agreement and try to make them easier to understand so it’s easier to break down the options the Celtics or another team has with their players in any offseason.

We begin today with a common phrase that you’ll hear countless times in NBA free agency and has a huge impact on any team’s offseason. Bird Rights?

What are Bird Rights?

Technically, Bird Rights are a salary cap exception that was named originally after Larry Bird back in the 1980s once free agency was introduced. The purpose is to allow teams to exceed the salary cap in order to re-sign their own free agents, up to the player’s maximum salary. This was a loophole introduced essentially to allow players to be retained more easily by their current teams.

How does a team get Bird Rights on a player?

A player must play for three straight years with the same team except for one crucial exception: a player who qualifies for Bird Rights has those rights traded with him as part of a trade. This is why the Celtics have Bird Rights on a player like Kyrie Irving this summer even though he played for just two years in Boston. Since he had played for six straight years in Cleveland, he had Bird Rights and those rights carried over as part of the deal.

What kind of contract can a player be offered when they have Bird Rights with a team

Anywhere from one to five years with annual raises up to eight percent in each year of the contract. Said player can be paid up to the maximum salary for their level of experience.

Why are Bird Rights so important?
Look no further than this past Celtics offseason. The Celtics were over the cap due to their salary commitments and cap holds heading into this summer, but they still had the ability to pay everyone on the roster up to max money, including Irving. That obviously did not happen since Irving elected to go to Brooklyn but Bird Rights allow teams to keep stars together even when they don’t have cap room to pay them. The exception provides any team great flexibility to pay their own player and a big advantage over other teams in retaining said player since other franchises might only have a certain amount of cap room they can offer. That fact is a big reason why plenty of players with Bird Rights stay put.

Who on the current Celtics roster has Bird Rights and why?

Let’s start with the youngest pieces of the roster. The structure of any first-round rookie contract (four years with two team options) give every team Bird Rights on all their initial picks. Romeo Langford, Grant Williams and Robert Williams don’t have Bird Rights yet but they will by the end of their third season in the NBA since they will be playing on their rookie deal.

Older players still on their rookie deals (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown) will have built up Bird Rights as well in the next year or two when their deals expired. Marcus Smart (five seasons in Boston) has Bird Rights already as the longest-tenured Celtic.

Second-round picks also have the ability to earn Bird Rights if they sign longer deals upon being drafted. That has been the case with Semi Ojeleye and Carsen Edwards who signed four-year contracts with leftover cap room and/or the mid-level exception.

Bigger names also can develop Bird Rights with a new team after signing a long-term deal in free agency. Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward both signed four-year deals with a player option so the Celtics will maintain Bird Rights on both even if they opt-out after the third year.

Finally, Daniel Theis will have Bird Rights with the Celtics at the end of his current season in a rather unorthodox way. He signed a two-year contract that he finished with Boston last year and that opted for a second two-year deal with the C’s this summer (second-year is a team option). Once he finishes that third year with Boston (at the end of this season) the C’s will have his Bird Rights whenever he hits free agency.

All in all, that gives Danny Ainge 11 players that the Celtics already have or will have Bird Rights on by the end of their current contracts.

What free-agent rights do the Celtics have with their other players that won't have built up Bird Rights?

Enes Kanter: If the veteran center opts out of his two-year contract with Boston after one year, the Celtics will have Non-Bird Rights on him. This is an exception that allows the team to pay him 120 percent of his previous salary and remain over the cap. If that’s not enough to retain said player, a team can use part or all of its mid-level exception ($9.5 million) to sign him or try to open up room under the salary cap to retain him. One of those options will probably be necessary to keep Kanter for Boston if he has a strong season since he signed a below-market deal to play here.

Vincent Poirier: The Frenchman signed a two-year deal with Boston, which means the team will have Early Bird Rights on him when his contract expires. This is a variation of Bird Rights that go into effect when you play two straight seasons with a team (they also carry over if traded like Bird Rights). The Celtics will be able to offer Poirier 175 percent of his previous salary with Early Bird Rights or offer Poirier up to the league average salary (whatever is higher) in the summer of 2021 while remaining over the cap. This Early Bird Rights provision allowed the team to pay Theis $5 million per year while staying over the cap this summer. Since Poirier is technically on a rookie deal, he will be a restricted free agent in two seasons as well.

Brad Wanamaker: The 30-year-old guard will be playing his second year in Boston on a one-year contract so he will have Early Bird Rights as well at the conclusion of this year.

Final Thoughts

The Celtics are positioned well to maintain any part of their current core going forward short of Kanter. The question now will be how much the front office will want to invest in their key young pieces with Bird Rights over the long-term. Big new deals for Brown and Tatum will send the team over the salary cap for the foreseeable future. That’s a path this team will take if it leads to a title core. Otherwise, Ainge will be maneuvering parts of this roster as the year continues.