These rights, a provision within the league’s collective bargaining agreement, allow teams to re-sign their own players who do not qualify for Bird rights but have played for the team for at least two seasons. An instance of this would be a player signing a one-year deal and then another one-year deal with the same team. This allows the team to exceed the salary cap to retain the player.
The significance lies in providing flexibility for teams to maintain continuity and retain valuable players even when constrained by salary cap limitations. The historic effect of this provision has enabled teams to keep their core group of players together, fostering team chemistry and potentially increasing the likelihood of sustained success. It also provides security for the player, increasing chances of staying with the team, with potential earnings that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.
