Nerlens Noel sues former agent Rich Paul over $58 million in lost salary

Remember when Nerlens Noel turned down a four-year, $70 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks back in 2017? Well, we now have an idea as to why that happened.

Noel, who spent one season at Kentucky from 2012-13 before going No. 6 overall in the 2013 NBA Draft, has had a long and successful career playing at the highest level of basketball. The 27-year-old has made over $35 million in salary in his seven NBA seasons. But he could have had a lot more, and now he’s suing his former agent to try and recoup those losses.

On Monday afternoon, Noel, who signed a three-year, $27 million deal to stay with the New York Knicks over the summer, filed a lawsuit against his former agent, Rich Paul, and his agency Klutch Sports. The lawsuit claims that Noel lost $58 million in potential salary while being represented by Paul from 2017-20. The news was first reported by Darren Heitner of SportsAgentBlog.

According to ESPN: “Noel claims breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and negligence. The lawsuit doesn’t cite a specific amount of damages but asks for actual and punitive relief.”

Paul currently represents former Kentucky Wildcats such as John Wall, Anthony Davis, Eric Bledsoe, Tyrese Maxey, and B.J. Boston along with NBA All-Stars LeBron James, Ben Simmons, and Draymond Green.

Breaking on @SportsAgentBlog: Nerlens Noel has sued NBA agent Rich Paul, claiming Paul is responsible for $58 million in lost earnings.https://t.co/mW5a9SdxQI

— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) August 24, 2021

Nerlens Noel’s claims are pretty serious, too. The official Complaint states that Paul purposefully went out of his way to interfere with Noel’s relationship with Happy Walters, who represented Noel once he was drafted out of Kentucky. Paul apparently told Noel in 2017 that he was a “100 million man” and that Noel would be able to attract a maximum contract if he dropped Walters for Klutch Sports.

Not long after that, Noel did sign with Rich Paul and Klutch Sports, then turned down the four-year, $70 million deal that the Mavericks had offered. Instead, he signed a one-year, $4.1 million qualifying offer with the franchise in hopes of cashing in on a bigger contract the following offseason. Unfortunately, Noel would only play 30 games in 2017-18 due to surgery that was required to repair a torn ligament in his thumb.

Since then, Noel has signed two, one-year deals with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the veteran minimum and then a one-year, $5 million deal with the Knicks ahead of the 2020-21 season. The Complaint goes on to state that Paul neglected Noel as a client and played little role in helping him find lucrative contracts.

Noel left Klutch Sports in Dec. 2020, saying that Paul “had a history of mismanaging and ignoring other clients and costing them significant money.”, according to the SportsAgentBlog. Noel’s current deal with the Knicks was negotiated by agent George Langberg.

You can read the entire case at the link here.