Agents of Banks, Salmons and Diaw may reveal a lot...

[se7en]

After the Marcus Banks surprise signing and John Salmons backing away from Toronto, I decided to research the agents of these players to see if there was a connection.

It just so happens that there is. Marcus Banks is represented by Michael Higgins and John Salmons is represented by Joel bell. They both work for SFX Sports. I thought the connection was interesting.

I thought this report after Salmons chose Toronto was interesting, "Salmons chose an offer from the Raptors over one from Phoenix, Suns coach and general manager Mike D'Antoni said. "I felt this was his best choice," King said. D'Antoni said Phoenix had worked out a sign-and-trade deal with Philadelphia to acquire the athletic small forward. Instead, Salmons decided to accept an offer from the Raptors, whose general manager is Bryan Colangelo, former Suns president and an architect of Phoenix's squad.
Salmons' agent, Joel Bell, did not immediately return phone messages.

It's almost as if the 76ers King talked Salmons into this deal and his agent was caught off guard.

Also, did anyone know that Salmon's agent is also James Jones agent and that they are fiends who played together in college? Look at this blurb I found: Salmons played three seasons with James Jones at Miami, where both were four-year players known more for guile than athleticism. Jones stays in touch with Salmons but said they had not talked basketball.

"He's a playmaker, but he can shoot," said Jones, who has the same agent, Joel Bell, as Salmons. "In his situation the last couple years, they needed him to be a playmaker. If you ask him to score 30, he can. He's deceptive with his shot." http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0712suns0712.html

Maybe the connections mean nothing or maybe they'll help reveal something.

As for Diaw's agent? It's Doug Neustadt who's biggest client to date appears to only be Sarunas Jasikevicius who signed a 3 year $12m deal, a couple of no name second round draft picks and a few players in the Euroleague. Not a very impressive client list, so maybe this agent would be willing to negotiate a reasonable contract to get that first big commision check ASAP.

I just think it's interesting to look at this from an agent perspective. Some food for thought to kill some time until these deals happen.

 

[JCSunsfan]

The agent story is always interesting. For instance, Tim Thomas' agent is also Joe Johnson's agent You know, the one that dropped f-bombs on Sarver. The one that Sarver hung up on.

The other agent that I always pay attention to is Tony Dutt. He was Dice's agent during the "Great Departure." I don't think the Suns have employed even one of his clients since that time.

 

[George O'Brien]

I'm not sure if there is an easy list of who is represented by whom, but it would explain things if we knew. I'm told that some of the odd drafting behavior is at least in part due to teams avoiding certain agents and it is much much worse when dealing with free agents.

The sad part is that a good agent can make a very positive contribution. Someone has to tell players that "no, you are not worth $10 million. Your team is not run by idiots like the Nuggets are and only teams with Bird rights or in sign and trade can be that stupid".

 

[overseascardfan]

I'm not sure if there is an easy list of who is represented by whom, but it would explain things if we knew. I'm told that some of the odd drafting behavior is at least in part due to teams avoiding certain agents and it is much much worse when dealing with free agents.

The sad part is that a good agent can make a very positive contribution. Someone has to tell players that "no, you are not worth $10 million. Your team is not run by idiots like the Nuggets are and only teams with Bird rights or in sign and trade can be that stupid".

Is Scott Boras representing some of these players?

 

[F-Dog]

As for Diaw's agent? It's Doug Neustadt who's biggest client to date appears to only be Sarunas Jasikevicius who signed a 3 year $12m deal, a couple of no name second round draft picks and a few players in the Euroleague. Not a very impressive client list, so maybe this agent would be willing to negotiate a reasonable contract to get that first big commision check ASAP.

On the other hand, an agent with few clients can be expected to spend more time and attention on each contract.

From his client list, I expect Neustadt has plenty of FIBA clients, too, so you can probably throw both angles out the window.

 

[nowagimp]

The agent story is always interesting. For instance, Tim Thomas' agent is also Joe Johnson's agent You know, the one that dropped f-bombs on Sarver. The one that Sarver hung up on.

The other agent that I always pay attention to is Tony Dutt. He was Dice's agent during the "Great Departure." I don't think the Suns have employed even one of his clients since that time.

I expect that the suns will not deal with Arn Tellem in the future, after the JJ fiasco. When I saw that Tellem was representing TT, I felt that was a really bad omen. The really "good agents", by definition, get more for their clients than they are worth. This also means that many owners will not deal with them, fearing they will be fleeced or publicly embarassed in negotiations.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

This also means that many owners will not deal with them, fearing they will be fleeced or publicly embarassed in negotiations.

..... A top agent doesn't just get the best dollar amount for their client. In fact, situation often is more important than the overall dollar amount until a player reaches his prime. A good agent is always looking at the next contract, and how to get his player as close to the max for that deal as possible.

NBA contract negotiations are a pretty small part of an agent's job. Agents will typically get NBA deals in the same ballpark, having Bill Duffy over a mid-level agent doesn't necessarily mean you are going to get a big time check. Most small agents are a part of the big agencies anyways. Something like 70% of NBA players are represented by the top 12 agencies. Owners don't shy away from a big agent for fear of being fleeced....


If there is a player the Suns want, and he is represented by Tellem - they will still negotiate with them. The thing is, they are less likely to get his friendly pursuasion to join the Suns - they will have to pay full market price (and maybe more) to land a Tellem client.

 

[Gaddabout]

Guaranteed money is always better than Nirvana on a handshake. Agents want guarantees, and they want them in writing in triplicate, with all the official signatures and plated official seals. They want control -- trade clauses, player options -- and they don't want team control -- unlimited trades, team options.

Lots go into contracts that mean more in the bigger picture than numbers that are thrown around. A 6/60 contract is meaningles if the team gets an option in years three and four, or if that number is partially based on bonus incentives etc. I guess bonus incentives are pretty much left to the realm of the NFL and MLB these days, but there's lots of ways to make a pretty number ugly (and vice versa) in any given contract.

As Jerry Maguire says ... I will not rest until I have you holding a Coke, wearing your own shoe, playing a Sega game featuring you, while singing your own song in a new commercial, starring you, broadcast during the Superbowl, in a game that you are winning, and I will not sleep until that happens. I'll give you fifteen minutes to call me back.

 

[nowagimp]

..... A top agent doesn't just get the best dollar amount for their client. In fact, situation often is more important than the overall dollar amount until a player reaches his prime. A good agent is always looking at the next contract, and how to get his player as close to the max for that deal as possible.

NBA contract negotiations are a pretty small part of an agent's job. Agents will typically get NBA deals in the same ballpark, having Bill Duffy over a mid-level agent doesn't necessarily mean you are going to get a big time check. Most small agents are a part of the big agencies anyways. Something like 70% of NBA players are represented by the top 12 agencies. Owners don't shy away from a big agent for fear of being fleeced....


If there is a player the Suns want, and he is represented by Tellem - they will still negotiate with them. The thing is, they are less likely to get his friendly pursuasion to join the Suns - they will have to pay full market price (and maybe more) to land a Tellem client.

Sounds almost like a top lawyer gets justice, which we know is crap. Top lawyers win the most high profile cases and generate the most billable $$$. I'd be winning to bet that the "top agents" sign the most contracts and bring in the most $$ for their firms. Its really simple, more money, more credit. I doubt the firms are very forward looking, why should they be, american business sees only 1 year at a time and sometimes only 1/4 of a year at a time.