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(修正原譯的瑕疵)

Could free agency be delayed by the NBA's appeal of the recent Bird Rights
arbitration hearing?

NBA對本次鳥權仲裁提起上訴，是否會延遲自由球員市場開市？



It's possible. The NBA Players Association could request an injunction on
behalf of the players involved, including Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak, to delay
free agency until the appeal process is completed.

這是可能的。





The NBA's appeal could take weeks, possibly months, according to several people
with knowledge of the situation on both sides. A panel has to be assembled, the
sides have to present their cases and a decision has to be rendered after
review. This isn't something that comes together quickly and with July 11 --
the first official signing day -- just over two weeks away, there is little
chance for closure on this issue in time.





The union would not want to open free agency without a resolution and,
privately, the Knicks would prefer to wait until they have a definitive answer
so they can execute the proper offseason plan. In the midst of an appeal, the
CBA says the Knicks need to follow the letter of the law until further notice.
That means they would have to use their Mid-Level Exception to re-sign Lin,
which could lead to them losing out on other impact free agents, such as Jason
Kidd or Lamar Odom.



==
註：本次兩造攻防在兩個字，「only」、「trade」。

CBA 明文規範：「只有」在被「交易」的情況下，鳥權才會隨著球員移轉。

如果對此條文做文意解釋，Lin 等人是沒有鳥權的。這是 NBA官方的立場：letter
of the law，合約字面的意義。


==


What if the appellate panel upholds the decision of arbitrator Kenneth Dam? The
NBA would have a major controversy on its hands. Sure the Knicks may have their
MLEs back in play, but what if all their top priority targets were already
signed elsewhere?





So rather than halt the free agency season while arguing over a definition (the
word "trade" as used in the collective bargaining agreement) and negatively
impact a franchise's ability to conduct business, the best case scenario for
everyone involved is for the NBA and NBPA to meet and negotiate a settlement in
this case.





One reasonable resolution could be for the NBA to grant the arbitrator's
decision be effective strictly for the 2012-13 season, if the NBPA accepts that
henceforth, the accepted rule is that Bird Rights transfer only via trade and
not via waivers.




It is such a rare case that we may never see this come up again anyway. Players
claimed off waivers don't usually develop a value where Bird Rights are an
issue. But this season the emergence of Lin and Novak have created such a
scenario, so a one-time exclusion may become the only time it ever comes up
again.





The NBA had the right to appeal the decision and followed standard operating
procedure. There is a dangerous precedent that could be set by this result
because it would open the door for other ambiguities in the CBA to be
challenged by the union. The league could not afford to shrug off the decision;
especially one that it felt was not an ambiguity.

NBA 有權上訴，並依照一般程序啟動自由球員市場。如果本仲裁案成為先例，對
NBA 官方而言是危險的，因為這會讓球員工會不斷挑戰 CBA規範中的漏洞。

聯盟無法承擔「有這種CBA 被挑戰成功的先例」的後果，更何況聯盟並不認為條
文規範中有漏洞。



The NBA feels confident about the appeals process, but as one league source
told me, "We didn't think we'd lose in the first place." The league fought the
Chris Dudley trade to the Knicks in 1997 and after it lost in arbitration --
coincidentally Kenneth Dam presided over that as well -- the NBA appealed and
the decision was upheld.

NBA 對上訴的結果有信心，但某位聯盟的消息來源也說，「我們一開始也沒料想到
會輸」。




This time around, with so much uncertainty and too many variables, it seems
unlikely that this appeal will ever reach full execution. The sides simply need
to get together and, as they did so often six months ago, negotiate a
settlement.

但在這次，由於有這麼多的不確定性與變素，本次上訴不太可能會有「最終結論」
。雙方應該儘快坐下來談，跟六個月前做的事一樣，談一個和解方案出來。


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◆ From: 114.34.108.34
※ 編輯: puppetsgame     來自: 114.34.108.34        (06/27 09:22)

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