7 Unrestricted Free Agents with ties to Leon Rose’s former CAA position who could find themselves on the New York Knicks.
One of the key tenets learned in life is that business is all about relationships. It doesn’t take someone with a business degree to understand that mantra. The same principles apply in the NBA—to the chagrin of certain fans that clamor for an ideal scenario of meritocracy. Relationships determine whether certain teams can withstand a long dynasty run. Relationships determine whether certain players are signed to a team. The New York Knicks are no exception to these rules.
In fact, the Knicks maintain a very strong relationship with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), dating back to the late 1990s. Several high-profile members of the team – including Eddy Curry, Mike Woodson, and Carmelo Anthony – were clients of CAA.
Recently-hired Knicks president Leon Rose previously was a prominent agent associated with CAA. Additionally, Madison Square Garden has longstanding ties to the agency due to their connections with entertainers outside of basketball.
To the surprise of some, CAA represents a large faction of NBA players. The agency has 12 agents working for players from Joel Embiid to Karl Anthony Towns to Theo Pinson. CAA doesn’t have an exclusive relationship with the Knicks; their influence spreads across many organizations. Truthfully speaking, an oligopoly of sports agencies represent a bulk of the NBA players.
Since the Leon Rose hire, it’s been fun to speculate whether there will be ties to CAA in any of the team’s offseason moves. The first connection was established last week when the Knicks claimed Theo Pinson – a CAA client – off of waivers.
This piece marks the beginning of a 4-part series called The CAA Files.
Our analysis breaks down potential CAA-affiliated acquisitions based on the following categories:
- Unrestricted Free Agents
- Restricted Free Agents
- Player Options
- Trade Targets
Part 1 will go over seven unrestricted free agents with CAA affiliation that would be interesting acquisitions, including some former Knicks.