Rich Paul called NBA teams and told them not to draft his client?
May 20, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Rich Paul and Adele watch during the second quarter in game two of the 2022 western conference finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Chris Livingston became the “Mr. Irrelevant” of the 2023 NBA Draft, and that occurred … by design?
Livingston only spent one season at Kentucky before leaving for the draft. He elected to remain in the draft after ostensibly receiving a promise from a team that they would draft him.
According to Shams Charania, who shares the same agency as Livingston, agent Rich Paul called NBA teams during the second round on Thursday night and told them not to draft Livingston.
Update here: Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul began calling teams in the second round and requested them not to take client Chris Livingston. It‘s believed Livingston has a set draft spot in the second round. https://t.co/5C5XWGa4vH
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2023
Apparently the reason for Paul telling teams not to draft Livingston was because they had a guarantee from the Bucks that the 2021 champions would take the 19-year-old forward. Milwaukee selected Livingston with the last pick in the draft — No. 58 overall.
Why would Livingston have remained in the draft to go last to Milwaukee rather than return to Kentucky? There could be a few reasons.
For one, he is going to a contending organization, which likely has some appeal. Secondly, there are changes to the NBA CBA that reportedly make it so second-round picks could be signed for longer than before on their rookie deals.
Still, it all sounds really weird that Livingston wanted to go last, but that’s how it shook out.