Could LeBron James Agent Rich Paul Be Knicks' 'Klutch' Trade Deadline Addition?
With Valentine's Day looming, the New York Knicks' front offfice is reportedly showing some love to one of its supposed public enemies.
Per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, Knicks president Leon Rose engaged in a "sit-down" with renowned player rep Rich Paul in an attempt to "move forward with a business relationship." Paul is the founder of Klutch Sports Group and is well-known for representing childhood friend and current Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
A prior report from Bondy stated that Klutch clients (such as Zach LaVine and Dejounte Murray) did not want to deal with the Knicks (32-17) due in part to Rose's prior connections with rival group Creative Artists Agency.
Kirby Lee, USA TODAY SPORTS
Rose repped James prior to his move to Klutch in 2012 and Paul was previously employed under the Knicks president at CAA. Bondy's latest said the supposed feud between the two had nothing to do with anything stemming from their prior union.
The relative peace summit comes as Los Angeles attempts to end the Knicks' NBA-best nine-game winning streak on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
Though rumors have swirled around the status of his most famous client with the Lakers (25-25) struggling to keep pace in the primary Western Conference playoff picture (they sit 3.5 games out of sixth entering the weekend), Paul denied that James would be moved out of purple-and-gold prior to Dec. 8's trade deadline to ESPN's Brian Windhorst. But Paul's client list does include several other transactional targets including Malcolm Brogdon (Portland) and Jordan Clarkson (Utah).
