Nerlens Noel sues Rich Paul, Klutch Sports

[slamtheking]

if there's proof calls for contracts were not being returned and that those missed/unreturned calls caused Noel to miss out on major paydays, I'd hope there'd be a road to recover some if not most of those lost monies.  that would seem, to me, to be serious professional negligence.

[timpiker]

Good for him.  These parasites get paid for their"expert advice" and they need to be held accountable. 

[Csfan1984]

Good for him.  These parasites get paid for their"expert advice" and they need to be held accountable.

I agree if in fact a agent tells player not to sign for the sake of making more later. If agent leaves it up to the player and says "there could be a better deal later" with player saying "let's wait" then it's not on the agent. Agents should not pressure players ever.

[jambr380]

I’m fascinated that a guy with no offensive game would turn down $70 million. Did he think he would become Gobert (before Go wet became Gobert)? Like why risk that money when the odds of getting significantly more are low. If they advised him to turn that down, shame on him for listening. If they refused to return calls or take offers to Noel, shame on him for hiring them.

Unfortunately the first part happens to some players (see: Schroder and Oladipo most recently). It's why we see guys like Smart and TL secure their future, rather than play it out and hope they can get more. He gambled on himself, he lost, it sucks.

But your last statement seems completely off. Klutch Sports is supposed to be a professional agency. I would think the most basic thing an agent can do is return a call to a team who is interested. You can literally have your receptionist do this. If this is true, it not only seems to be negligence, but possibly malicious intent.

[gift]

The part about not returning calls is really bad, if true. Also, hard to believe they would think Noel wouldn't find out about the potential offers at some point. The league is a web.

[Moranis]

The part about not returning calls is really bad, if true. Also, hard to believe they would think Noel wouldn't find out about the potential offers at some point. The league is a web.

Which is why I have a hard time believing it.  The teams also could pretty easily just reach out to Noel directly if they thought his agent wasn't being responsive.  Also why I have a hard time believing it.

[Celtics2021]

The part about not returning calls is really bad, if true. Also, hard to believe they would think Noel wouldn't find out about the potential offers at some point. The league is a web.

Which is why I have a hard time believing it.  The teams also could pretty easily just reach out to Noel directly if they thought his agent wasn't being responsive.  Also why I have a hard time believing it.

Discovery and depositions are a thing.  If Brett Brown says under oath that Rich Paul didn’t return his/the 76ers calls, that would be problematic at best for Paul.  For many agents, I would imagine that could result in decertification by the players association.  Certainly other agents will be rooting for Nerlens — I can’t imagine any of them like Paul.

[Wretch]

Didn't Marcus Morris fire Klutch for advising him to sign a bad deal with the Mavs?

[Birdman]

If it was me, I wouldn’t listen to no one on what I should do

[celticsclay]

The part about not returning calls is really bad, if true. Also, hard to believe they would think Noel wouldn't find out about the potential offers at some point. The league is a web.

Which is why I have a hard time believing it.  The teams also could pretty easily just reach out to Noel directly if they thought his agent wasn't being responsive.  Also why I have a hard time believing it.

Discovery and depositions are a thing.  If Brett Brown says under oath that Rich Paul didn’t return his/the 76ers calls, that would be problematic at best for Paul.  For many agents, I would imagine that could result in decertification by the players association.  Certainly other agents will be rooting for Nerlens — I can’t imagine any of them like Paul.

If this actually gets that far it will be really interesting. It seems like there would be conflicts of interest all over the place. Say the bucks did call and nobody picked up or returned the calls. Is the bucks front office going to testify that happened if they have three high level players on their roster represented by klutch? Does klutch then try to demand trades?

[Ogaju]

I didn’t realize Happy Walters had more than Marcus Smart as an NBA client. It was Happy that may have negotiated that 4 year $70M deal with Dallas. That kind of negotiating for a player of Nerlons caliber, is elite agent territory.

Can one of the lawyers clarify: if Noel accepted Dallas' offer of $70m/4 years, would Happy have been the agent of record and entitled to the commission even though he was fired?

No wonder Rich Paul had no problem advising him to turn that down...

It depends on who actually inks the contract. If Rich signed the contract that was negotiated by Happy, Rich is the agent of record, but Happy will be entitled to a share of the commission on a quantum meruit basis. It does appear to be a mess because the court will have to determine what services are provided for the commission.

[Ed Monix]

I’m surprised that no journalists have brought into question the conflict of interest regarding Klutch Sports clients & LeBron.

Just recently most people were surprised that Montrezl Harrell opted into a cheap player option with the Lakers, then ‘coincidentally’ he is used in the trade that brings Westbrook to the Lakers, a deal LeBron wanted.

This is a perfect example of a conflict of interest. How would Harrell know if better deals were on the table if all the information is being filtered through Klutch.

How is being used as a salary dump in the best interest of a client?

I actually like the concept of Klutch, but if I were an NBA player there is 0% chance I’d sign with them while LeBron is still playing in the NBA.

[celticsclay]

I’m surprised that no journalists have brought into question the conflict of interest regarding Klutch Sports clients & LeBron.

Just recently most people were surprised that Montrezl Harrell opted into a cheap player option with the Lakers, then ‘coincidentally’ he is used in the trade that brings Westbrook to the Lakers, a deal LeBron wanted.

This is a perfect example of a conflict of interest. How would Harrell know if better deals were on the table if all the information is being filtered through Klutch.

How is being used as a salary dump in the best interest of a client?

I actually like the concept of Klutch, but if I were an NBA player there is 0% chance I’d sign with them while LeBron is still playing in the NBA.

Yeah that was a really weird chain of events. You figure if Harrell was going to opt into a cheap deal he would want to do it for a contender at least.

[Celtics2021]

I’m surprised that no journalists have brought into question the conflict of interest regarding Klutch Sports clients & LeBron.

Just recently most people were surprised that Montrezl Harrell opted into a cheap player option with the Lakers, then ‘coincidentally’ he is used in the trade that brings Westbrook to the Lakers, a deal LeBron wanted.

This is a perfect example of a conflict of interest. How would Harrell know if better deals were on the table if all the information is being filtered through Klutch.

How is being used as a salary dump in the best interest of a client?

I actually like the concept of Klutch, but if I were an NBA player there is 0% chance I’d sign with them while LeBron is still playing in the NBA.

Yeah that was a really weird chain of events. You figure if Harrell was going to opt into a cheap deal he would want to do it for a contender at least.

I didn’t think Harrell would get better than that on the free agent market this year.  His value tanked a bit last season.

[Kuberski33]

I’m surprised that no journalists have brought into question the conflict of interest regarding Klutch Sports clients & LeBron.

Just recently most people were surprised that Montrezl Harrell opted into a cheap player option with the Lakers, then ‘coincidentally’ he is used in the trade that brings Westbrook to the Lakers, a deal LeBron wanted.

This is a perfect example of a conflict of interest. How would Harrell know if better deals were on the table if all the information is being filtered through Klutch.

How is being used as a salary dump in the best interest of a client?

I actually like the concept of Klutch, but if I were an NBA player there is 0% chance I’d sign with them while LeBron is still playing in the NBA.

My guess is that most of the national media guys are reluctant because Klutch is a key source for their stories. As far as Harrell goes Klutch has certainly become a major player in the agent market so I can see someone like him 'trusting the process' and feeling that they'll do right by him.  But the agency business being what it is, the shine is going to come off of them as the years go by.  As with most businesses not everyone may have an optimal experience dealing with them.

But I agree, given LeBron's influence and how he always seems to get what he wants, I'd be reluctant to sign with Klutch and then wind up on LeBron's team.