Don’t know if this one is a thumbs up quite yet, Chris. In another move that may offer a glimpse into the future, or be indicative of nothing at all, Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the New Orleans Hornets PG has decided to leave Octagon and sign with LeBron James’ LRMR marketing company. Woj:
After working for years to lure him away, LeBron James has finally attracted a star athlete to his LRMR marketing company: New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul.
James and LRMR CEO Maverick Carter have been recruiting Paul for more than two years to join their fledgling marketing company, and the All-Star guard finally informed his agency at Octagon that he had decided to leave.
“He’s left Octagon,” Paul’s agent Jeff Austin told Yahoo! Sports. “We’re proud of the work we did with him over the past five years. We wish him nothing but the best.”
Austin and agent Lance Young negotiated Paul a four-year, $68 million max deal with the Hornets. Paul can be opt out to become a free agent in 2012. Paul had several national endorsements through Octagon, including Right Guard and Nike Jordan Brand.
More flame-fanning in the hours leading to “The Decision.” It’s no secret that LeBron would love to play with Chris Paul (they are close friends), and having him in-house can only serve to facilitate that. The curious part of it is why Paul would make such a move, all things King aside. He had a fairly good thing at Octagon, and he’s jumping into the relative unknown of LRMR; they have yet to prove that they can garner the type of high-profile deals that Paul was the recipient of under prior management. It’s a gamble on CP3’s part, one that he must assume will pay off due to his status as one of the top PG’s in the league, as well as the obvious connection to James. How it will shake out, time will tell. But have you seen LRMR’s other client reaping benefits? What other client, you ask?
Jonny Flynn.