What's the deadline to trade CP3 in regards to his bird rights?

[LarBrd33]

I had read something a couple weeks ago that suggested that if Chris Paul was traded prior to the season, the new team would acquire his bird rights and would be able to offer him significantly more money at the close of the season.  The idea was that a team like Boston would be potentially willing to take Chris Paul even without an extension, because in the worst-case scenario they'd still probably get a couple assets for him next offseason in a sign-and-trade.

What exactly is this "deadline" for acquiring bird rights.  It's actually kind of confusing to me, because I don't see why trading for him in December would really be different than trading for him in February.  I thought you always acquired a player's bird rights if you traded for them.

[Who]

I don't think that is implemented until 2013 or something like that.

Felt it was unfair to implement it immediately. Hurt teams like Orlando and New Orleans who caught blind-sighted.

[Chris]

I think you are referring to the rule that does not allow a team to give a player an extension for 6 months after trading for them.

However, that is only for extensions.  I believe Paul would be signing a Bird Right's contract, which is not an extension.  He can only sign this once he is a free agent (so, he needs to actually opt out, and wait until the signing period starts), but I believe he could be traded in March, and then sign a full Bird Rights contract on July 1st.