Jaylen Brown is going through an unusual route in his path to become an NBA player. The projected top-ten pick is choosing to negotiate his first deal in the league without an agent, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical.
The former California player will instead receive advice from the players’ association in negotiating his contract with NBPA attorney Ron Klempner giving him guidance along the way.
Brown is also receiving advice from former player and current New York Liberty general manager Isiah Thomas.
According to Wojnarowski’s source, Brown wants to learn the business aspect of the game before hiring an agent. However, he will hire an agent to negotiate his shoe deal.
This is certainly an interesting path for Brown, who is known for being an intelligent person and even taking graduate level courses in his freshman year at Cal. While very rare, one can see the advantages of going this route.
First, Brown saves some money by not having to pay commission to his agent, although as Woj mentions, most agents do not take commissions on rookie deals.
Secondly, understanding the nuances of contract structures and being independent in doing so should help Brown down the line in making decisions about the contracts he signs.
Considering he will still receive guidance from the NBPA and that the NBA has standardized pay scales for rookies, this seems like a low-risk move that has potentially great benefits for Jaylen Brown as he starts his NBA journey.
