No worries. Yes, Nate has been with New York for 3+ years, so New York has full Bird rights on him (i.e., the right to re-sign him for any amount, regardless of the salary cap). However, because Nate just re-signed with New York under a one-year contract, any team trading for Nate would only inherit that ONE-YEAR contract. Therefore, his new team would not have Bird rights on him. This is very similar to the situation Dallas faced a couple of years ago, when Devean George vetoed the first iteration of the Jason Kidd trade. He was is the same exact situation that Nate is in now. Mark Cuban ended up having to bring Keith Van Horn into the deal, and it ended up costing Cuban about an extra $11M. Other than Kobe Bryant (who is the only player in the league with an actual "no trade" clause in his contract), and players who had their offer sheets matched in the prior offseason (like Carl Landry in 2008-09), these "1-Year Bird" players are the only players in the league who can actually VETO any trade involving them, since such a trade would adversely affect their rights to maximize their salaries. A complete list of "1-Year Bird" players: Raymond Felton Lindsey Hunter James Singleton Anthony Carter Johan Petro CJ Watson Steve Novak Brian Skinner Shannon Brown Joel Anthony Jamaal Magliore Sean Marks David Lee Nate Robinson Adonal Foyle Royal Ivey Grant Hill
Whether or not he stays in New York, the Knicks are going to pump this move for all that it's worth. Prime that fanbase for next year Tracy or no. I would think Tracy would have to accept a contract that starts at 4- 6 million a year plus incentives/marketing. That said it this could be a harbinger of a deal where they give up A LOT (where we rob them blind...hope, hope )and they have to justify the move. With all the capspace NY will go LeBron + but I wouldn't have Tracy as part of it.
Does that mean it is in Nate's best interest to be in a 3+year sign and trade? Or resign as a Knick? Also thank you for explaining 1 year bird rights.
Yes, to either option. That's why I don't think he'll agree to just ANY trade. This is also why I think there's NO WAY IN HELL that David Lee (who is the only "1-Year Bird" player in the league who can legitimately get a big pay day next summer) agrees to ANY trade out of New York this season.
Bima, you can exceed the cap to re-sign your own players. but if that pushes you into lux tax land, you still pay the tax, right? Also, can you clarify this: can a team only exceed the cap to sign its own players, or can you do it to sign FAs (whether restricted or not). I think it's the former, but would like to be sure.
Yes, you still pay the tax on "total team salary". Having Bird rights just means that you can exceed the salary cap. It doesn't get you off the hook for paying the tax. This is why the Rockets need to be careful about taking too much (non-expiring) salary back in any McGrady trade. It could cause the Rockets to become heavy tax payers upon re-signing Scola and Lowry, both for whom the Rockets have Bird rights. And, yes, you can only exceed the cap to re-sign your own players, assuming that you have Bird rights on those players (or "Early Bird" rights, which allow a team to re-sign a player who's been with the team for 2 years to a deal up to the "average player salary" (or MLE amount), except that you can obviously use salary cap exceptions like the MLE or LLE if you are over the cap. Obviously, you can't exceed the cap to sign outside free agents (other than with the salary cap exceptions). Otherwise, what would be the point of even having a "salary cap"?
thanks. I was pretty sure that was the case but wanted to make sure. by the way, you should twitter. I bet a lot of folks on this board would follow. It would sure be easier than sorting through less-than-thoughtful posts on this board, which unfortunately appears to be ever increasing.
But his bird rights are only important if resigning in NYC. David Lee seems both talented enough (i.e. - super talented), and potentially fed up with NYC enough that he might agree to a trade anyway, if the plan is to just sign a huge FA deal in the offseason with some team that has cap space. I agree it's unlikely, but you never know. Also, could a contract extension be worked out and signed before hand, and then he be trade at his new value (which may be a BYC value?). These are all just for knowledge, not that I expect him to be traded or traded to the Rockets, just curious. Thanks.
Its been the Knicks dream to get a superstar like Lebron or Dwade, so if this trade goes through and they aquire TMac, if its only short-term, what are NY's chances of aquiring a name like Lebron?
I think he going to ny.imo he want's to be more famous then kobe and being in ny will help with that.even if he wins a few rings he still wont have more then kobe.
I know he still 6'8 with high BB IQ, court vision and passing skills.but cares about that.if he cant dunk.
