NBA Rumors: Postseason/playoff eligibility rules for waived/bought out players

May 20, 2012; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers small forward Danny Granger (33) warms up before Game 4 of the Eastern conference semifinals against the Miami Heat at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory credit: Michael Hickey-USA TODAY Sports /

Depending on who you ask in the coming days, you’ll likely get a handful of different answers as the NBA’s waived players rule for postseason eligibility is for some strange reason oddly confusing.

So here it is in the most simple of breakdowns.

For a player to be eligible to play on a postseason roster, he must be bought out by his team by Saturday, March 1st. The player does not have to sign with his new team by that date. The waived/bought out player can sign with his new team at any point during the regular season and still be eligible to play in the postseason – even down to the last day of the regular season if he wanted to.

Per ESPN’s Marc Stein:

"NBA rules referesher: As long as players are bought out and waived by MIDNIGHT SATURDAY, they are playoff-eligible to play with another teamThey do NOT have to sign with their new team by March 1. They can sign on the last day of the regular season and still be playoff-eligible"

So there you have it – as long as said player (Danny Granger, Caron Butler, Jimmer Fredette, etc) are bought out by this Saturday, they can sign with any team and be playoff eligible assuming they sign at any point during the regular season with their new team.

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