Knicks center Nerlens Noel is suing agent Rich Paul. Paul filed a grievance against Noel with the National Basketball Players Association.
How will this saga end?
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report:
Maybe the union will help both sides resolve their dispute.
But Noel claims Paul owes him money. Paul claims Noel owes him money.
That’s a tough gap to overcome.
There’s a substantial difference in the payment each side is seeking.
Noel’s lawsuit centers on Paul advising him to reject a four-year, $70 million offer from the Mavericks in 2017 then not actually working to secure Noel bigger contracts in the ensuing years. Noel had a combined salary of just $12,973,622 the previous four seasons.
Paul wants to be paid a $200,000 commission on Noel’s Knicks contract last season (4% of Noel’s $5 million salary). In his lawsuit, Noel argues “Paul played virtually no role” in the deal.
However, Paul likely has a better chance of winning his action than Noel does his.
It’s difficult to hold an agent civilly liable for unmet promises about future contracts. What Noel describes as Paul not doing his duty by not taking or returning calls from teams could be described by Paul as playing hardball, a strategy that has been successful for the agent previously. Or Paul, who has yet to respond publicly, could flat deny Noel’s charges.
As for Paul’s grievance, even Noel admits he didn’t fire Paul until after signing with the Knicks last year.
So, what’s a resolution both sides would accept? Apparently, the union will try to find out.
