Former North Carolina center Brendan Haywood has been claimed by the Charlotte Bobcats, the team announced Saturday.

NBA teams were notified at 5 p.m. Saturday the Bobcats had lodged the winning bid in a blind auction to claim Haywood, who was released Thursday by the Dallas Mavericks via the one-time amnesty clause.

NBA.com reported the Bobcats' winning bid was just more than $2 million, which means Dallas must pay roughly $6.3 million of Haywood's $8.3 million salary in 2012-13.

Releasing Haywood via amnesty wiped the $27.2 million he's owed over the next three seasons off the Mavericks' books for salary-cap and luxury-tax purposes. The Bobcats now will assume more than $6 million of that financial obligation.

Haywood played as a teammate in Washington alongside Charlotte owner Michael Jordan.

Only teams under the salary cap can bid on players waived via the amnesty clause. The waiver process takes 48 hours, with players released via amnesty gaining unrestricted free agency if they go unclaimed.

That provision made Darko Milicic an unrestricted free agent Saturday. The No. 2 overall pick behind LeBron James in the 2003 draft -- amnestied Thursday by the Minnesota Timberwolves -- cleared waivers.