Case in point = Jason Levien.  Before becoming the Sacramento Kings Assistant General Manager at the end of 2008, Levien represented Kevin Martin in his contractual negotiations with the Kings.  At Levien Sports Representation, he also advised many other basketball players, including Courtney Lee, Udonis Haslem, Luol Deng, Hedo Turkoglu, and Omri Casspi.  Interesting note – Levien decided to leave the Kings a couple of weeks ago after what many believe to be unhappiness regarding his potential to rise up the Kings’ ranks with the contract extension signed by president Geoff Petrie, and Levien may be searching for a new position within the NBA.

Jeff Moorad worked alongside Leigh Steinberg in the 1980s, representing high profile NFL and MLB athletes.  After roughly twenty years of acting as a sports agent, he became General Partner and CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2004.

Mike Kearns also worked with Moorad and Steinberg as the chief of staff for Steinberg & Moorad.  He later became the CEO of PROTRADE, which looks like it is no longer around.

Mike Barnett was an agent with IMG’s hockey division, and had the honor of looking over contracts that read names like Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Jaromir Jagr, Joe Thornton, Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Mogilny, Owen Nolan, Mats Sundin, and Dany Heatley.  He went on to become the General Manager of the Phoenix Coyotes for six years, and he is now Senior Advisor to the President and General Manager and Director of U.S. Amateur Scouting for the New York Rangers.

And we all know how many agents are also attorneys, either doing the sports representation practice on the side, or having a small law practice on the side while managing an agency on a full-time basis.  Lon Babby is one of those hybrids.  He is a Partner at Williams & Connolly (the firm Josh Childress used to use for his representation purposes), but his main focus is on sports law and negotiations.  Babby represents big names like Grant Hill, Ray Allen, Tim Duncan, Shane Battier.  Could he soon be following in Jason Levien’s footsteps, but skip starting as an assistant?

Rumors have been floating, which state that Babby is in the running to take over for former Phoenix Suns General Manager, Steve Kerr.  Interestingly, Jason Levien may also be a potential candidate for the position.  And Levien has a pretty good reference in Joe Maloof, who called the Suns to highly recommend Levien him for the GM job.

Lon Babby Looking For A New Job? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

I say triangle, because that residence should be in California, where word is that Levien will be accepting a position as Assistant General Manager of the Sacramento Kings.  I briefly spoke to Jason this morning and he seemed to be in good spirits and happy with life.  He will be sad to relinquish the oversight of his current, and soon to be former, clients, but believes that the opportunity with the Kings is just too much for him to pass on.  Plus, most of his clients have long-term deals and will not need as much day-to-day attention as players who are going to be free-agents in the near future.

Levien will go from representing Sacramento Kings star, Kevin Martin, to potentially negotiating with Kevin’s future agent if he is to remain with the team after his contract expires.  Other notable clients under the LSR (Levien Sports Representation) umbrella include Luol Deng and Courtney Lee.

Jason Levien – Future Kings Asst GM from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

A couple of weeks ago, I claimed

The Magic’s payroll is about $65 million and they apparently are butting up against a budget. They will look to sign a point guard through free agency for the minimum, acquire one in a trade or create more cap room with a deal. Nelson is the lone point guard on the roster.

Anyone want to help me spread the word to GM Otis Smith about a guy named Royce Parran?  He is not tall, but is definitely not short on passion, leadership, and ability to hold his own on the court.  Give the former Gary Steelhead a shot!

Okay, back to Redick.  The Orlando Magic now have four shooting guards: Redick, Keith Bogans, Courtney Lee, and Mickael Pietrus.  Redick is probably positioned in the far back of the pack at the moment.  I know that in the past Otis Smith had said, We’re not looking to move J.J. If it doesn’t make sense, we’re not going to move him just to move him.  At this point, doesn’t it make sense?

Let’s Make Some Magic Discussion from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

J.J. Redick is stuck somewhere between a rock and a hard place.  His agent, Arn Tellem, has been busy dealing with his huge stable of draft-eligible clients over the past month and will likely not have his load lessened any time in the near future.  Meanwhile, Redick wants out of Orlando, but the Magic have been unwilling to budge.  On Monday, the Magic said that they would not trade Redick before the draft, during the draft, nor after the draft.  The team has kept its promise on two fronts; let’s see if they hold onto the one-time Duke Blue Devil in the future.

General Manager, Otis Smith, is quoted as saying, We’re not looking to move J.J. If it doesn’t make sense, we’re not going to move him just to move him.  That’s fine, because it now seems like the Magic actually do have a reason to try to implement a trade surrounding J.J.  The team selected with the 22nd overall pick, Courtney Lee, a shooting guard from Western Kentucky.  Not only does Courtney play the same position as Redick, but he is an absolute stud.  Playing at a lesser known school, he did not get on the national highlight reel as much as Chris Douglas-Roberts.  There is a damn good reason that he was taken before CDR, though.  The kid can flat out play, and acquiring his talents may lead the Magic to dish J.J. Redick.

I personally think that J.J. Redick has the potential to make it in the NBA.  Sure, he has difficulty creating his own shots, but there is always a spot on an NBA team’s roster for a kid who can flat-out shoot.  I liken J.J. to Jason Kapono, who consistently drains the three.  If a team were to utilize J.J. Redick’s talents and not ask him to perform in ways that he is unable to, I believe that he would be an asset on the court.

It will be interesting to see what the Magic does now that Courney Lee is added to the mix.  I am sure that Redick will keep us up-to-date on his spiffy blog.

When Will We See J.J. Play? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules