It was an easy sell when they were hired, going on nearly four years ago, that Leon Rose and William Wesley would bring stars to the Knicks, attract blue chippers with their vast connections.
They were NBA power players for a long time, facilitators of relationships and contracts.
Wesley, in particular, carried the mystique of the unknown, the behind-the-curtain puppeteer who was nowhere and everywhere simultaneously.
It was only a matter of time until their combined rolodex produced a superstar-laden roster.
Or so it seemed.
Today, the hypocrisy of that narrative, beyond the absence of the superstar windfall, is that one of the NBA’s biggest agencies, Klutch Sports, has made it clear it’d prefer not to do business with the Knicks front office, multiple sources confirmed to The Post.
From connectors to frozen out.
This theoretically applies to all Klutch clients, whether free agents or potential trade targets, including Chicago’s Zach LaVine and Atlanta’s Dejounte Murray.
And, to be clear, it’s a much bigger problem for the Knicks than Klutch.
Rich Paul, the Klutch Sports CEO, can negotiate with 29 other teams, some with more cap space, more opportunities and almost all with lower state taxes than the Knicks.
But the Knicks can’t negotiate with 29 other agents who have as many high-profile clients as Paul.
Why? That many don’t exist.
And there’s probably not a single one ballsy enough as Paul — or secure enough — to take such a stance against a front office. He’s among the premier reps in the NBA, perhaps No. 1 depending on where you rank Paul against Jeff Schwartz, Bill Duffy and Mark Bartelstein.
According to a Forbes list from last season, Paul had repped 37 players with $1.36 billion in contracts under management. His current stable includes (but not limited to):
- Dejounte Murray
- Zach LaVine
- LeBron James
- Anthony Davis
- Draymond Green
- Trae Young
- Tyrese Maxey
- De’Aaron Fox
- Fred Van Vleet
- Malcolm Brogdon
- Jordan Clarkson
- Darius Garland
- Jerami Grant
- Collin Sexton
Not ideal for a team to lose access to that list.
Still, there are four important things to keep in mind with the Klutch-Knicks impasse:
- Although Klutch would be against doing business with the Knicks front office, it would help facilitate a deal if a client desired that location, according to a source. Klutch obviously couldn’t prevent a trade, but landmines are set and often detonated if a player or his camp don’t want to be there. Plus, the Knicks front office should’ve learned long ago not to underestimate Paul’s influence. As former CAA agents/consultants, Rose and Wesley lost their greatest client ever — LeBron James — because he left with Paul.
- There’s a very real possibility of a peace between the Knicks front office and Klutch. As SNY reported, Paul would consider changing his posture if a meeting were coordinated and his issues were addressed. My understanding is that both sides have been receptive to a sit-down and it could happen soon.
- Dejounte Murray, the Klutch client and 27-year-old former All-Star, is reportedly on the trading block and, according to SNY, considered “an ideal target” for the Knicks. That would be a huge deal for the Knicks — the biggest trade of the Rose era — and provide Jalen Brunson with a top-rate backcourt mate. Per sources, the Knicks aren’t keen on trading for LaVine, who is also being shopped but without a robust market.
- Why is Klutch against dealing with the Knicks? It’s the question that would undoubtedly be addressed if or when the two sides meet. My only definitive read is that it’s fixable for the sake of business and has nothing to do with the distant history between Paul and Rose/Wesley. They used to be partners at CAA, but Paul left in 2012 to form Klutch. That’s irrelevant here.
Paul’s more recent experience dealing with the Knicks hasn’t been great, though.
Mitchell Robinson dropped Klutch in Rose’s first season. Nerlens Noel also left Klutch after signing a contract with the Knicks. Cam Reddish, still a Klutch client, was placed in Tom Thibodeau’s doghouse, then traded.
Whether or not these are factors in the Klutch-Knicks beef is unknown, but, regardless, the front office has a perception problem around the league, not just with one agency.
Multiple agents and NBA personnel have expressed concern to me that the Knicks are too closely associated with CAA, where Rose served as the head of the basketball division before taking over the Knicks.
There’s an NBPA “conflict of interest” rule outlawing player agents from also representing front office executives, with a concern that one hand will wash the other with favoritism and contracts rather than soap. But there’s nothing stopping a former agent from actually becoming the GM — even if, as is the case with Rose, the ties to a specific agency still run deep.
It should be noted that the Knicks only have three players represented by CAA (Josh Hart, Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein), which is down from previous seasons. Multiple members of the front office and coaching staff are CAA clients.
Again, this might have nothing to do with the reasons for the Knicks-Klutch Cold War (gotta give credit to SNY’s Ian Begley for that name). But it’s obvious the Knicks should figure this out, rather than lose access to a top agency.
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