It is not often that we see a brother fire his representation and hire a brother but All Star guard, John Wall is set to do exactly that. Washington Wizards point guard John Wall has fired agent Dan Fegan and his team of representatives at Relativity Sports. Wall is reportedly hiring, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. Wall has to wait 15 days after notifying Fegan before officially signing with Paul.
Paul represents his close friend, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Richard Paul, 34, is certainly a young agent on the rise. His other 10 other clients include Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson, Phoenix Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe, Kings sharp shooter Ben Mclemore and former Wizards center Kevin Seraphin.
Paul and his longtime, chief negotiator Mark Termini are coming off of a summer of securing Thompson a 5-year, $82 million deal with the Cavaliers and a four year, $30 million deal for Corey Joseph with the Raptors. The year before, they negotiated a 5-year, $70 million contract for Bledsoe to remain with the Suns and negotiated LeBron’s first max contract. Over the last two years, Paul and Termini have negotiated $327 million worth of contracts and Wall has clearly taken notice. If no injuries occur anytime soon, Wall will certainly be up for close to max money on his next deal.
Dan Fegan represented Wall since the star guard left Kentucky after one season and became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft. The decision to dismiss Fegan comes after negotiations for a new sneaker contract with Adidas fell through and Wall’s deal with the company expired at the end of September, a couple months after Adidas signed Houston Rockets guard James Harden to a 13-year, $200 million contact to make him their marketing focus in basketball.
Wall still wore his signature Adidas sneaker in games at the beginning of the season for royalties but has recently been wearing Nike. James signed a lifetime contract with Nike last month and nine of Paul’s other 10 clients are with Nike.
Wall, 25, is a two-time all-star in his sixth season as the franchise centerpiece for the Wizards. He is in the second year of five-year, $80 million contract extension he signed in July 2013 that took effect last season after his rookie deal expired. He is averaging 19.7 points, 9.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.1 steals in 36 games this season. Despite those numbers, Paul’s biggest client, LeBron James threw a bit of shade at Wall following the Cavaliers victory over the Wizards last week. The remarks came after Wall gave public criticism about Cavs guard, Kyrie Irving leading him in All Star votes.
Wall is the second big name client to terminate Fegan’s services.In August, Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan also parted ways with Fegan after backing out of a verbal agreement with the Dallas Mavericks to re-sign with the Clippers.
John Wall quickly becomes Paul’s second biggest name client behind LeBron James. Wall was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December and all signs point to him being named to his third All Star team this year.
Klutch Sports was started in 2012 but the agency has been aggressive and successful in their short existence.
~Tay Jordan
What do you think of this move for John Wall?