Pistons' Nerlens Noel settles lawsuit with Klutch Sports

In August 2021, Noel filed suit against Paul and his agency, Klutch Sports Group, alleging that Paul had failed him in his representation. 

Noel originally left his original agent, Happy Walters, after meeting Paul at a birthday party for Ben Simmons in 2017.

At the time, Noel had a contract offer from the Dallas Mavericks for four years and $70M, negotiated by Walters. 

Dallas traded for Noel at the 2017 deadline, and hoped to keep him long-term. 

On Paul's advice, Noel fired Walters, and rejected the deal in favor of the one-year qualifying offer of $4.1M, which let him become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2018.

Betting on himself didn't work out as planned, as Noel fell out of the Mavericks rotation in early November, before having thumb surgery in mid-December that kept him out for nearly three months. 

Before the surgery, he expressed his frustration by eating a hot dog from the media room at halftime of a game.

Rather than becoming the "$100M man" Paul insisted Noel was, the young center signed three consecutive deals at the minimum. 

Noel alleged that Paul and Klutch Sports provided little assistance. Noel also claimed teams attempted to express interest in acquiring him, but Paul wouldn't contact them. 

He eventually terminated his relationship with Klutch Sports after signing a $5M deal with the New York Knicks in 2020.

Noel never paid Klutch Sports their $200K commission on that deal, and their subsequent complaint prompted his lawsuit. Now, they've settled the case, and Noel agreed to pay the $200K. 

If there's a further financial settlement involved in ending the legal proceedings, Charania (a Klutch client himself) hasn't reported it. 

It looks like Klutch has effectively been exonerated from wrongdoing. Perhaps they gave Noel bad advice, but he also got greedy, and neither of those things is illegal.

What's next for Noel? He signed a three-year deal for $32M with the Knicks in 2021, negotiated by his new agent. 

The Knicks traded Noel to the Detroit Pistons before the 2022-23 season in a cap-clearing move.

Now, Noel is on the trading block — his 2023-24 deal is a team option — and according to The Athletic, one of the interested teams is an old employer: The Dallas Mavericks. 

Let's hope they still serve hot dogs.