O.J. Mayo’s search for a new agent may have un-officially come to a close.  Mayo cannot actually sign a new NBPA licensed advisor until fifteen days after his firing of Leon Rose and CAA.  But the rumor is that the search party is over and that as soon as he is able to sign a new contractual agent, O.J. Mayo will hire LaPoe “Smitty” Smith Jr.

Smitty is a basketball agent who works out of an office in San Antonio, Texas.  HoopsHype and DraftExpress list LaPoe on their sites, but neither resource shows him as representing any active players.  So did O.J. really fire one of the biggest agencies for a small time agent?  Not quite.

While LaPoe Smith does not have any current NBA clients, he used to have his hands full representing Penny Hardaway through the injuries and the team changes.  Smith has also been coaching a team, the aptly named L. Smith & Associates, in the Southern California Summer Pro League for quite some time.  In fact, he had the privilege of coaching New England Patriots wide-receiver, Randy Moss, back in 2000.  Bo Outlaw has been playing with Smith’s teams, as well.

So why the sudden change for O.J.?  I am sure that someone was in his ear.  When you are a professional athlete in any sport making decent money, people are going to start talking.  But another concern for Mayo might have been that he would get lost in the CAA shuffle.  Remember that CAA recently acquired Henry Thomas’s basketball practice at CSMG.  Mayo had to know that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade would take preference over his own affairs.  Perhaps he wanted to make sure he was #1 on his agent’s list.  By becoming the only client of LaPoe Smith, he knows he will be the top concern at the agency.

Yesterday, Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal tweeted that O.J. Mayo, the Memphis Grizzlies guard going into his sophomore season in the NBA, has dropped both his marketing agency and contractual advisor.  His representation for team contracts was Leon Rose of Creative Artists Agency.  Mayo’s marketing agency was LRMR Marketing, a company that has LeBron James on the board.

Mullen tweeted that CAA confirmed Mayo’s termination of CAA, but we still do not know exactly why Mayo chose to start fresh on marketing and contractual help.

O.J. Mayo had a terrific rookie season that included averages of 18.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 38 minutes per game.  And I am sure that many agents were in his ear throughout the year.  That would be a solid reason for why Mayo would drop smaller agencies for names like CAA and LRMR.  In this case, Mayo has dropped some big dogs, and we will wait and see who will be the replacements.

In case you have a short memory, Mayo was represented by BDA Sports before people found out about Rodney Guillory, a runner for BDA Sports and Calvin Andrews, gave money to Mayo while he was an NCAA student-athlete.  Andrews was suspended by the NBPA and Mayo started looking for new representation.  The rumor was that it was a race between Leon Rose and Andy Miller, with Rose winning out in the end.

And now we are once again left to wonder who Mayo will choose to become a part of his team of advisors.

Let’s look at CAA’s basketball division, first.  Before hiring Henry Thomas, CAA already boasted three strong basketball agents: Leon Rose, Andre Buck, and Steven Heumann.  Heumann mostly deals with the high profile overseas players and those born outside of the U.S. who now play in the NBA (think Omri Casspi).  Andre Buck is up-and-coming, and serves as the primary agent for guys like Jason Thompson, Aaron Brooks, and Renaldo Balkman.  Then there is Leon Rose, who has LeBron James, O.J. Mayo, Jonny Flynn, Allen Iverson, Richard Hamilton…the list goes on.  The key thing that I notice with Henry Thomas’s arrival is that LBJ and D-Wade are now under the same roof.  The two most marketable basketball players (you can throw Dwight Howard in at #3 in my book) are at CAA.  Interestingly, though, LBJ has his own marketing company, so CAA, the sports marketing juggernaut, does not reap rewards from that account.  D-Wade will bring in some nice profits, though.  He recently switched from repping Converse to the Jordan Brand (both owned by Nike).

In yesterday’s post, I alluded to Jason Belzer’s Sports Agency Power Rankings.  The list was created a year ago, and I think that he would agree with me that the pecking order should be changed.  I believe that the top 4 are now CAA, WMG, Octagon, and BEST.  WMG, Octagon, and BEST are not all that far from one another, but all 3 are a giant step below CAA, in my opinion.

A key question is: How does one compete?  One thing is sure, you are not going to beat CAA by playing its game.  The company does not have unlimited resources, but something close to it.  They have more connections to producers, directors, potential sponsors, etc, so you can’t out-promise Creative Artists Agency on providing more avenues outside of the field/court.  What you can beat CAA at (possibly) is personal care.  CAA is the largest sports agency in terms of quality of clients and track-record of agents, but they are not interested in players who are going to be taken Day 2 of the NFL Draft, beyond the 10th round of the MLB Rule 4 Draft, or un-drafted basketball players (for the most part).  In fact, even if you are a 2nd round NFL draft pick, do you want to be splitting time with Matt Stafford?  If you are a 4th round pick, will you get the same attention as Derek Jeter?  LeBron Jame and Dwayne Wade might get a few more phone calls then a 2nd round NBA draft pick.

A lot of athletes crave attention.  They also want someone that they can relate to.  Personal relationships mean a lot in this business.  Just because CAA is growing by the day and seems like it is a company that is beyond competition, does not mean that it is immune to losing some big potential clients to a boutique firm that knows what it is doing and can connect with the athletes.  Don’t fight CAA at its strengths, find out what your own strengths are and use those to impress future clients.

All of that being said, CAA sure got a lot stronger with its latest acquisition.

Basketball

• Shabbat Shalom to this high school stand-out who may be joining Maccabi Haifa [San Diego teen negotiating with Israeli hoops team].
• NBA teams don’t care about NCAA violations involving payments or recruiting (example: O.J. Mayo) [Foul play: the charade in college basketball].
• Arn Tellem hooked one of his clients up with dinner in the company of President Obama [Westbrook Meets Obama, Visits China].

Football

• Looks like Rosenhaus had it coming for a while [Boldin Had Met With Other Agents Last Year].

Baseball

• Please tell me that I am not the only person reading this who used to love playing APBA [APBA, Strat-O-Matic endure in era of high-tech games].
• Here’s another game to play…and it involves signing bonuses [B3 Draft Top 10 Signing Game!].
• That Ryan Braun is so hot right now [WisBusiness: Brewers becoming marketing winners, too].

Sports Business

• Get your Phelps endorsed water-proof headphones [Phelps gains endorsement deal].
• Even athlete relocation specialists are jumping on the Twitter bandwagon [The pro sports world is getting smaller by the minute.]

O.J. Mayo has affected a lot of peoples lives.  He has given the town of Memphis hope that one day the Grizzlies will be a contender.  He gave BDA Sports Management a scare when there were allegations of a connection between BDA employee, Calvin Andrews, leading to Calvin’s one-year suspension by the NBPA.  Bill Duffy lost Mayo as a client, but continues to have success acquiring new talent.  And then there was Tim Floyd.  For a long time, Floyd’s name was generally kept out of the media.  The Mayo scandal revolved around names like Andrews, Rodney Guillory, Louis Johnson, and Bill Duffy.  But then, on May 12, 2009, Charles Robinson and Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports dug up some dirt on Coach Floyd.  Only a month later, and Floyd is on his way out of the University of Southern California.

After such a long break in the O.J. Mayo debacle, things have started moving very fast again.  With Floyd’s resignation, which he claims was based on a new lack of enthusiasm, questions surrounding USC’s recruiting tactics have once again hit center stage.  Will Floyd’s resignation save or futher damage USC’s reputation in the eyes of NCAA investigators?

Calvin Andrews has been suspended by the NBPA for one year and its disciplinary committee may take further action in the future.  It was obvious that Calvin’s and BDA’s name would be hurt by all of the negative headlines, but with a full-year suspension and the potential for an even larger penalty, what will this mean for Andrews, BDA, and Bill Duffy?  They lost Mayo (who eventually signed with Leon Rose) and may be blocked from recruiting many one-time potential recruits due to a large kick to their reputation.

On May 23rd, I pointed out that the NBPA was starting to get serious about enforcing many of its regulations and that a penalty would probably be assessed to Andrews if he knowingly/recklessly/negligently supplied funds to a runner/handler who then passed them onto Mayo.  The NBPA’s investigation into Mayo’s recruitment must have dug up some facts that led it to believe that Andrews played an active role in Guillory’s recruitment method.

BDA’s NBA Draft grade of C- may start to look rather generous.  What will be BDA’s plan now that Andrews cannot represent his clients for at least a year?  Who will fill in the gap?  How will Duffy restore his agency’s integrity?

The Rodney Guillory debacle has sounded an alarm for the O.J. Mayo’s of the future. Summer is the time of the year where future NBA stars are found and many of tomorrow’s talented players rise to the top in camps or training. The summer time is also when NBA stars (Steve Nash, for example) and college coaches all over the country hold camps for these athletes to get exposure. The camps attract many agents and individuals associated with basketball, like Rodney Guillory. Mayo claims to have met Guillory at one of these summer camps in 8^th grade.

Many amazing athletes now have to look out for people who want to take advantage of them (Helping You Lose Your Money Effectively). After O.J’s recent mistakes, many athletes are now aware of the damage it can cause to let one bad apple into their entourage. “If you let one person into your circle, they can mess everything up,” John Wall, a junior point guard from Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh (NC) said. Wall is considered one of the top players in this year’s class, and is in the same shoes that Mayo was in last year.

This is a horrible position for Mayo and others to be placed in and the one-year-out of high school NBA will only make this story more frequent. However, not all middlemen and agents are bad people, trying to take advantage of young athletes. There are always going to be Rodney Guillory’s somewhere out there, and there always have been. The  Guillory story shows us the dark side of the industry. Not all people are as mischievous as Guillory.

The Rodney Guillory effect should not cause individuals to blame agents, as BDA did not do anything illegal with Mayo (as far as we currently know). This sad story should focus on the need for more regulations and checks to be made in high school and college basketball, and amongst agents. As I said earlier, not all agents and “runners” are bad people. AAU and summer basketball attracts a lot of America’s best basketball stars, yet it is highly unregulated. Almost any Joe Shmo can walk into a gym and watch these events. That is where it all starts. The rest comes when these “runners” violate NCAA rules and give athletes money or other benefits.

Basketball camps should be arenas were athletes can show off their talent to all. They do not need to be worrying about who is watching them, especially if these individuals can get them in trouble. The athletes should focus on their game and let everything else fall in place. They get into trouble when they start finding friends like Guillory and talking to people in the industry that claim they will make them rich.

Brandon Jennings was the best high school prospect in the class of 2008. He was flirting with the idea of going professional after high school, only to hear the NBA once again strongly reinforce its one-year-out of high school requirement.  His dream of playing professional ball out of high school did not end as Jennings searched for another alternative: playing professionally overseas.  After weighing the two options for some time, Brandon Jennings has now decided to forgo a year at Arizona and play overseas, further enforcing Darren’s and many others point that the NBA age requirements should be lifted.

On Tuesday July 8^th, Jennings released a statement through his attorney Jeff Valle regarding the issue.  Jennings said, “Over the course of the last two months I have consulted a number of people in basketball before coming to this decision.  I would like to thank the University of Arizona for their interest and support through this process.”

Valle went on to say that Jennings will not even wait to see his third SAT score, after his second test was questioned by the NCAA. The results from the third test are due later this week, but whatever the magic number is, he will not be playing basketball on this continent next season.

Jennings’s decision to play in Europe is a first amongst young potential NBA athletes. These athletes for the past three years have simply attended college for a year, met the NBA requirements and then ditched school for the pros.  As Darren pointed out, this is a benefit for the institutions as they get to feed off these players individual success and what they do for the schools programs.  The kids probably only attend class during the season and most don’t even care about their grades.  Why would they, if they go into college only planning to stay a year?  Some college coaches have commented that it hurts the institutions because the players only stay for a year, thus forcing the coach and the team to lose cohesiveness and rebuild each year. However, these one-and-dones can put a program on the map as well (Kansas State, USC, Ohio State).

On the other hand, playing one year in college could benefit the young talented players.  They would get a chance to be “the man” at any institution they chose for basically no cost (assuming they have the grades and SAT score).  They would also have the chance to be seen by a lot more NBA GMs and NBA scouts than they would overseas.  Not to mention the ability to get acquainted to the style of the international game versus the faster paced NBA that focuses more on individual play rather than the team. Staying in college could be a benefit to these players, as they get to build their stock for a year in front of an American audience.

This year’s draft was the first time we saw three freshmen get picked 1,2, and 3. Five out of the top seven chosen had only played college ball for one year.  A total of 12 freshmen got picked in day one, annihilating last years total of 8 as the most freshman taken in round one.  I think this is yet another reason for David Stern to change the minimum age requirement.

Look at the O.J. Mayo situation this year.  If the one-year rule were not instituted in the NBA he most likely would not have gone to college.  As it turns out, O.J. turns USC into a good team for one year, at the same time he “allegedly” violated NCAA rules by receiving anywhere from $30,000-100,000 from an associate of BDA.  Mayo switched agents several times and still has not had any sanctions placed on him. O.J.’s ordeal has made a mockery of the one-year-out-of high school requirement and only further strengthens the argument to drop the rule.

Many foreign drafted players (Fran Vasquez, Rudy Fernandez and Tiago Splitter) have even chosen to stay overseas after being drafted by NBA teams because of the high salaries and lack of regulations (age and salary) in foreign leagues.  NHL marvel Jaromir Jagr recently left the New York Rangers to sign a big contract in the Russian league.  Playing in high priced foreign leagues is starting to become a trend for many athletes in a variety of sports (Is Becky Hammon Russian?).

This is a trend that Brandon Jennings might have just set for many young ballers in the U.S.A.  He is the first player to officially play overseas instead of college.  Although I can see both sides of the debate, the underlying factor still comes down to the money.  The NBA is a business just like the NCAA is, and both are looking to benefit off of these athletes.  They claim to be “educating student athletes” but that doesn’t appear to be happening.  The colleges are benefiting immensely from these one and done players at the expense of these athletes.  It has now come to the point that an amazingly talented point guard like Brandon Jennings is headed overseas (Check out this youtube video). Sonny Vaccaro recently commented about the Jennings situation saying it is “the best possible way to stick it to the NCAA and the NBA’s rule banning players straight from high school.”

If this rule was put into affect a year earlier, we would have seen LeBron James play for Ohio State instead of learning the ropes of the NBA.  It’s time for David Stern to do a real cost-benefit analysis and change this controversial requirement.

1. Wasserman Media Group (Arn Tellem, BJ Armstrong, Dan Tobin, Greg Lawrence, Thad Foucher, Bob Myers) – The WMG team had an unprecidented draft.  BJ Armstrong stole the show by representing the #1 overall pick, Derrick Rose.  Because BJ was always mentioned with Rose, many looked over the fact that he is also the primary agent for #14 pick, Anthony Randolph.  Quite a first year for the one-time Chicago Bull.  Arn Tellem did not do too poorly himself.  Danillo Gallinari went higher than many had anticipated during the week.  While Tellem may not be “listed” as the primary agent for many of WMG’s 7 first round picks, you have to believe he had a heavy hand in persuading the players to go Wasserman’s way.  Add to the stable Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Maarty Leunen, D.J. Augustin…yeah, this one is easy…Grade = A+
2. Priority Sports (Mark Bartelstein, Aaron Mintz, Brad Ames) – Forget A-Rod vs. Canseco, T.O. vs. the media, and Shawn Chacon vs. the Astros GM.  I want to see Tellem vs. Bartelstein.  If you had to ask me which two names currently dominate the NBPA agent landscape, it would have to be these two fellows.  If your last name starts with a “B”, chances are, Bartelstein represents you.  His company got J.R. Giddons drafted in the first round, way above where I thought he would go.  At the same time, Trent Plaisted slipped a little further than Bartelstein probably hoped he would.  The company definitely jumped for joy when Brandon Rush became a lottery pick.  Overall, Priority had another solid showing.  Grade = A
3. BDA Sports (Billy Duffy, Calvin Andrews, Rade Filipovich) – The biggest news leading up to the NBA Draft had maintained the spotlight for quite some time: O.J. Mayo fired Calvin Andrews and BDA Sports after NCAA violations came to light regarding Mayo’s acceptance of money through a runner for the agency.  In my mind, BDA had to do quite a lot to rebound from that devastating news, which may continue to get worse if further sanctions are placed on the agency.  I do not feel like they ended up very happy.  Besides losing Mayo, James Gist was picked later than expected, but Goran Dragic was taken right about where he was predicted to go.  Overall, 2008 was a disappointing year for a company that used to be right up alongside Priorty.  Grade = C-
4. Excel Sports Management (Jeff Schwartz, Sam Goldfeder) – For a long time, mock drafts had Jerryd Bayless projected as a top-4 pick.  It is not Schwartz’s fault that Bayless slipped as draft day approached; Bayless was probably being hyped a little bit too much beforehand.  Having a lottery pick is always a win for a sports agency, and Excel must be happy that Bayless went in the top 14.  Having two lottery picks is even nicer…Kevin Love is also a client.  The true icing on the cake is that Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was taken at the beginning of the second round.  Mbah a Moute was not even a lock to be picked at all.  Grade = A
5. Montgomery Sports Group (Roger Montgomery) – Not a bad draft for a man who only represented four guys going into last Thursday.  Sonny Weems was taken higher than expected and Darrell Jackson went right about where he was predicted to land…and to a team that desperately needs some help.  I have no criticism for Roger, but until he breaks into the first round, I am unable to give him an A.  Grade = B+
6. Creative Artists Agency (Leon Rose, Andre Buck) – It was looking like CAA was going to be left out of the first round shuffle until the aforementioned O.J. Mayo affair went down.  But even more surprising is that CAA ended up with two lottery picks.  The second is Jason Thompson, who has Andre Buck as his primary advisor.  Who could have predicted that the Rider forward would be selected twelfth overall?  The only thing holding me back from giving CAA an A+ is the slipping of CDR (Chris Douglas-Roberts).  Tenth pick in the second round?  Something went wrong there.  Grade = A-
7. ASM Sports (Andy Miller, Justin Zanik) – Serge Ibaka, Sasha Kaun, Omer Asik, J.J. Hickson, Marreese Speights, Deron Washington, and Richard Hendrix all got drafted.  It seems like ASM has not gotten its due praise because WMG has been taking all of the headlines.  Someone hire a PR expert for this company, ASAP!  Between WMG and ASM, how does anyone else compete?  Sure, James Mays and David Padgett were not selected, but I am sure that they will find a team to play for.  Grade = A+

• Derrick Rose is going to Chicago.  The city of Chicago is already preparing for tomorow.  No link necessary.
• Darren Rovell thinks that he has influence in the nickname department.  If so, then I think he should tell O.J. Mayo to heavily consider using the name, “The Mayo Clinic” [You Pick The Nickname For O.J. Mayo].  It is so damn goofy, that it may just work.  I am not sure that Nike will approve; however, after the company officially inked the one time Trojan to a 4-year deal.
• Is Joe Alexander more marketable than Mr. Mayo?  He has the advantage of growing up in the Far East and being fluent in Mandarin.  He may be one of the few players in this draft actually hoping to get picked by the Milwaukee Bucks.
• On second thought, maybe Joe is not as marketable in Milwaukee if this trade between the Bucks and Nets is true…
• Check out how Jerryd Bayless prepared for the big day.  He bought a black range rover with black rims and packed a light load for NY.  In the video, he is sporting a nice JB shirt with a Nike swoosh.  Is that a sign that he will be aligning himself with the Nike brand?
• Lots of questions surrounding Trent Plaisted [Plaisted finishes workout routine with Jazz; now awaits Thursday's draft].
• The Pacers now have the 11th and 17th pick in the first round…if the speculation is true [Raptors call O'Neal trade "speculation"].