The deadline for exercising RFA rights will be the end of the rookie draft. If you do nothing, it is assumed you are declining to exercise your RFA "right to match" and these players will become Unrestricted Free Agents. Exercising RFA rights means your available cap space will be reduced by the noted amount during the RFA bidding period. Please refer to the RFA Explanation thread for questions and ask them in that thread, not this one.
To exercise a player's RFA rights, you must post in this thread with the name of the player whose rights you are exercising and note "Exercise Rights" for example: "Hawks exercise RFA rights on Antonio McDyess." Only posts exercising or declining RFA rights should go in this thread. Questions should go in the RFA rules thread linked above.
| 1 | Kevin Garnett | RFA | Lakers | 0.25 | $8,723,835 | RFA rights exercised by the Lakers |
| 2 | Rasheed Wallace | RFA | Spurs | 0.245 | $8,549,358 | RFA rights exercised by the Spurs |
| 3 | Antonio McDyess | RFA | Hawks | 0.24 | $8,374,881 | RFA rights exercised by the Hawks |
| 4 | Michael Finley | RFA | Raptors | 0.235 | $8,200,405 | RFA rights exercised by the Raptors |
| 5 | Damon Stoudamire | RFA | Spurs | 0.23 | $8,025,928 | RFA rights exercised by the Spurs |
| 6 | Brent Barry | UFA | Celtics | 0.225 | $7,851,451 | RFA rights declined by the Celtics |
| 7 | Jerry Stackhouse | RFA | Magic | 0.22 | $7,676,975 | RFA rights exercised by the Magic |
| 8 | Joe Smith | RFA | Wizards | 0.215 | $7,502,498 | RFA rights exercised by the Wizards |
| 9 | Arvydas Sabonis | RFA | Bulls | 0.21 | $7,328,021 | RFA rights exercised by the Bulls |
| 10 | Kurt Thomas | UFA | Grizzlies | 0.205 | $7,153,544 | RFA rights declined by the Grizzlies |
| 11 | Theo Ratliff | RFA | Jazz | 0.2 | $6,979,068 | RFA rights exercised by the Jazz |
| 12 | Eric Snow | RFA | Hawks | 0.195 | $6,804,591 | RFA rights exercised by the Hawks |
| 13 | Fred Hoiberg | UFA | None | 0.19 | $6,630,114 | Released by the Hawks on 11/3/1997 |
| 14 | Travis Best | UFA | Wizards | 0.185 | $6,455,638 | Team option declined by the Jazz 10/15/1996 |
| 15 | Predrag Danilovic | UFA | Suns | 0.18 | $6,281,161 | RFA rights declined by the Suns |
| 16 | Voshon Leonard | UFA | Timberwolves | 0.175 | $6,106,684 | RFA rights declined by the Timberwolves |
| 17 | Greg Ostertag | UFA | Heat | 0.17 | $5,932,208 | RFA rights declined by Heat |
| 18 | Bryant Reeves | UFA | Nuggets | 0.165 | $5,757,731 | RFA rights declined by the Nuggets |
| 19 | Bob Sura | UFA | Bucks | 0.16 | $5,583,254 | Team option declined by the Jazz 10/15/1996 |
| 20 | Cherokee Parks | UFA | Celtics | 0.155 | $5,408,778 | Team option declined by the Pistons 10/15/1996 |
| 21 | Tyus Edney | UFA | Wizards | 0.15 | $5,234,301 | Team option declined by the Pacers 10/15/1996 |
| 22 | Alan Henderson | UFA | Clippers | 0.145 | $5,059,824 | Released by the Mavericks on 7/17/1996 |
| 23 | Anthony Goldwire | UFA | Bucks | 0.14 | $4,885,347 | Team option declined by the Pistons 10/15/1996 |
| 24 | Eric Williams | RFA | Hawks | 0.135 | $4,710,871 | RFA rights exercised by the Hawks |
| 25 | Thomas Hamilton | UFA | Wizards | 0.13 | $4,536,394 | Released by the Raptors on 12/22/1996 |
| 26 | Corliss Williamson | N/A | Raptors | 0.125 | $4,361,917 | Released by the Hawks on 12/22/1996; signed as a UFA by Raptors, currently under contract (i.e., not a free agent) |
| 27 | Andrew DeClerq | UFA | Lakers | 0.12 | $4,187,441 | Team option declined by Blazers 10/15/1996 |
| 28 | Don Reid | UFA | 76ers | 0.115 | $4,012,964 | RFA rights declined by the 76ers |
| 29 | Terrence Rencher | UFA | None | 0.11 | $3,838,487 | Team option declined by Celtics 10/15/1996 |
