The Philadelphia 76ers had been searching for the right backup big man to Joel Embiid almost through the majority of his career in Philadelphia–at least they were able to bring in Dwight Howard and then recently, Andre Drummond.
They were hoping to bring back a former Sixers big man in the form of Nerlens Noel when Brett Brown was still the coach, but Noel’s agent at the time was Rich Paul who decided against it and he refused to negotiate with the team.
In a report by Darren Heitner, who is also a lawyer specializing in sports law, of Sports Agent Blog, Noel is suing Paul for interfering with his relationship with his previous agent, Happy Walters, as well as costing him a lot of potential earnings in his carer. There was an interesting nugget from the report that concerns the Sixers.
Heitner reports:
Noel allegedly learned from Brett Brown, who was coaching the Philadelphia 76ers at the time, that the 76ers front office had been trying to contact Paul to discuss a potential deal and that Paul refused to respond. This was purportedly the case with other team representatives who were reaching out as well.
Paul is a well-known agent who represents the likes of Sixers star Ben Simmons, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Trae Young, and Draymond Green so there is a possibility that he was mostly focusing on the big names he represents.
Noel now plays for the New York Knicks and he is a big part of what they do, but it would have been interesting to see him back in Philadelphia and backing up Embiid. He would have been a nice shot-blocking presence off their bench and helped the team on the defensive end.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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