New York Knicks big man Nerlens Noel is currently engaged in a legal battle with Rich Paul, who is one of the most powerful agents in the sports world.
Of course, Paul is also LeBron James’ agent and close friend.
Noel has already alleged that Paul, who used to represent the big man, cost him millions of dollars in earnings by representing him poorly.
Recently, more details emerged. Noel is also alleging that he was not informed by Paul that three teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, were interested in signing him in recent offseasons. Paul allegedly didn’t return calls from those teams.
“The complaint claims that the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers had interest in signing Noel as a free agent in recent offseasons,” wrote Ian Begley of SportsNet New York. “But Noel, allegedly, was unaware of the interest because Paul didn’t return calls from those teams.”
If proven true, this is a massive story. While Noel isn’t a superstar, it’s impossible to know how past NBA seasons would have unfolded had he played for different teams.
The 27-year-old is coming off of a 2020-21 season in which he averaged 5.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He has career averages of 7.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest.
It’s surely interesting for fans to think about what the Lakers’ frontcourt situation would have looked like in recent seasons had Noel been a part of the team. At this point, there’s no way to know for sure.
It will be worth monitoring how the rest of this story unfolds.
