Top Five NBA Agents of the summer (2010)

David Falk set the mark for agents representing NBA players. He had the foresight to insist that Michael Jordan be given his own line of shoes by NIKE as a rookie. To this day Michael Jordan's shoes are still one of the best selling brands.

With this slide show I will highlight a few Agents who, this past summer, like Falk has done very well for their clients.

5 - Kevin Bradbury represents Amir Johnson

Mr Bradbury's sporting profile boasts that he knows what it takes for players to succeed on and off the court. He certainly does know his stuff when he negotiated a $34 million, five year contract with Toronto for a forward who averages 4.7 points and 4.2 rebounds over a five year career.

Johnson had a career year last year in his first season for Toronto when he averaged 6.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in seventeen minutes.

Money well spent considering they just lost Hedo Turkoglu and Chris Bosh!

4 Rob Pelinka – represents Carlos Boozer

Rob Peliinka is the same guy that represented Boozer when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers. When Boozer allegedly tricked the Cavaliers into not exercising their third year option on him so that he could sign a new deal with them worth $40 million over six years. As soon as they released Boozer he signed a $68 million deal with Utah Jazz and was out of town by the time the Cavs realized what was happening.

Frustrating if you are a Cavaliers fan but just the kind of thing you would want your agent to do. Why play for for $6 million a year babysitting a rookie small forward who appreantly was the chosen one when you can play for Jerry Sloan at the tune of about $11 million a year!

This summer Pelinka, who also represents Kobe Bryant, ushered Boozer to the Chicago Bulls for $75 million over five years.

Boozer should be a good fit with the Bulls.

3 - Henry Thomas represents Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh

Henry Thomas represents Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, two elite players who decided to become teammates next season.

Points are awarded to Thomas for not having Bosh do a one hour live show on Canadian TV to let everyone know that he is leaving.

Bosh will lose about $30 million in this deal however if things work out as expected he will more than make up for the loss in endorsement deals.

Same for Wade who has agreed to take a pay cut so that LeBron James and Bosh can join him in Miami.

Party on boys.

2 - Arn Tellem – represents Joe Johnson

How do you go into a room and prove that your client deserves a maximum contract when he just laid a big egg in the last playoffs. Whatever kind of leverage Arn Tellem used is an absolute mystery but it worked.

His client will receive $120 million over the next six years. This is why Tellem is respected as one of the most influential sports agents in not just the NBA or America, the World. This guy is the real deal.

Thats why The sporting News named him as the most "Influential" Sports Agent. The following was taken from Arn Tellem's blog on Johnson.

"When Joe came to Atlanta, the Hawks were NBA doormats, and not especially welcoming ones at that. Since his arrival, their record has improved every season. They've made the playoffs three years running. During the 2009-'10 campaign, Joe helped the Hawks to their best record (53-29) in 13 years. Only five teams had more wins."

Who can argue with a resume like this!

1 - Marc Cornstein Represents Darko Milicic

The image above says it all. Darko Milicic is the biggest spectator in the NBA. He gets good seats, nice close ups with NBA stars and I think he gets fed as well— plus he gets all the Gatorade he needs to keep him awake on the bench. Oh, on top of that he gets paid.

I also presume his agent played no small part in this. Marc Coinstein is an absolute negotiating wizard if he can sell the second pick of the 2003 draft who has played with five teams to date, to the Minesota Timeberwolves for $20 million over the next five years.

Clearly the Timerbwolves must see something in this Center that the average fan does not see. It is bad enough that he was drafted before Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony but the seven footer only averaged 8.3 ppg and 5.5 rpg over the last season playing for a lottery team.

Also the Wolves just let their best post player (Al Jefferson) go to the Utah jazz because they wanted to play a more up tempo game with Milicic at the heart of it. Clearly they are after Harrison Barnes!