The case for the Knicks to hold the "Bird Rights" of Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak will be heard in mid-June, a source tells ESPN New York. This is a big case for the Knicks because if won, the Knicks could re-sign both Lin and Novak while still maintaining their midlevel exception for use. "Bird Rights" are exceptions that allow teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents, but the snafu in this case is that both Novak and Lin were acquired via waivers rather than through a trade. The union is arguing waived players should retain their rights, but the league is stating a player's clock should be "reset" once he's acquired through waivers.