He signed with Mark Bartlestein -- that's a big time agency, which suggests he's dead serious about the NBA.

Not sure who's giving him advice, but I think this is a mistake. 2nd-round pick with a spot on a summer league roster or undrafted are likely outcomes. Mid-20's first-rounder is a heck of a stretch, even in a weak draft. Not sure why you would sign an agent early facing those prospects, so somebody obviously has his ear and is filling his head with delusions of grandeur.

Euroleague, OTOH, is a different story. Again, not sure why you would leave early unless you're a surefire elite euroleaguer.

Anyhow, good luck to him -- I always like to see former cougs do well in the pros.

-M

timmyboy wrote:

Well, if true, I don't think Trent is really aiming for the NBA. Hopefully, he recognizes that if he is struggling to get an invite and needs to hire an agent to do so, he is unlikely to get drafted. The NBA knows the talent and will invite all qualified players.

Best wishes to him in Europe!

I take this all back. This was based on lovelldog's earlier post claiming Plaisted hired an agent to get an invite to the workouts. If Bartelstein did indeed pick him up, then Plaisted is not fighting for an invite - he is fighting for the FIRST ROUND. Great decision for him. Good luck to him in the USA!

I just don't see how he gets drafted in the first round. He has some good skills compared to me, BUT, he is not a great defender, he can't shoot the 3, his offense was is very inconsistent and his free throw percentage is low enough to merrit Hack a Shack treatment. How many players from the WMC have done well in the NBA? Travis Hanson dominated MWC play way more than Trent did and he only lasted two years on the Hawks, and they were a crappy team.

Trent would most likely play the PF position in the NBA. Lets look at who he would be going up against in the Western Conference.

Paul Gasol / Lamar Odom
Elton Brand
Carlos Boozer
Dirk Nowitzki
Tim Duncan
Boris Diaw / Amare Stoudemire
David West

How about DeSagana Diop or Corliss Williamson? Both are second/third tier players and I don't think I would take Trent over either of them (except that Williamson is getting old)

Did he play against Danny Granger and/or Andrew Boogart? Granger is lucky to be in the league, Boogart has been a huge dissapointment and I wouldn't rate him any better than Granger and not as good as Boogart (can't spell a ex-ute correctly even if I tried).

I like Trent, and as hard as it is for me as a BYU fan to say this, if I were a decision maker in the NBA I wouldn't use one of my draft picks on Trent.

In spite of my opinion above that he is not NBA material, I am glad Trent played for BYU, thought he did a good job for us and will miss him playing for the team next year.

Good luck Trent.

Methusaleh wrote:

He signed with Mark Bartlestein -- that's a big time agency

Actually, no.

Mark Bartelstein is not an agency--he is one agent. He is also not that well respected in the scouting community--he is largely regarded as a sleazeball agent who makes promises he never intends to keep. I think Trent has confirmed his idiocy in this signing. Here's a list of his "big-time" clients, sorted by $$:

Brad Miller
Bobby Simmons
Kwame Brown
Maurice Williams
Antoine Walker
Mark Blount
Brian Cardinal
Mikki Moore
Trenton Hassell
Darius Songaila
Adam Morrison
James Posey
Brian Cook
DeShawn Stevenson
Steven Hunter
Jake Voskuhl
Charlie Bell
Devean George
Dan Dickau
Lindsey Hunter
Jannero Pargo
Maceo Baston
Aaron Williams
Eddie House
Justin Reed
Jason Smith
Scot Pollard
Luther Head
Shannon Brown
David Lee
Andre Brown
Awvee Storey
Roger Mason
James Augustine
Chris Quinn
Dahntay Jones
Luke Jackson
PJ Brown
Ronald Dupree
Eddie Gill
Darryl Watkins
Linton Johnson

Ranking agents by the total annual worth of the NBA contracts they represent, Bartelstein comes in at #2, however, he has 38 NBA players he represents, and more than twice that many playing semi-pro or overseas.

If you rank agents by the average annual income of their NBA clients, Bartelstein drops from #2 to #80. That's one hell of a drop. I guess it all depends, do you want to be represented by a guy with 100+ clients, who places most of his talent overseas and gets sub-par NBA contracts, or do you want to sign with an agent with 20 or fewer clients who put everyone in the NBA.

Plaisted did not sign with a "great" agent by any stretch of the imagination. Any schmo looking at Bartelstein's current list of clients can see one thing--he represents players who think they are better than they really are, even if they once were good: Kwame Brown, Adam Morrison, James Posey, Devean George, Dan Dickau, Jason Smith, Luther Head, and now Trent Plaisted. (note that Bartelstein has only recently contracted with Brad Miller and Antoine Walker--when they really were great, they had better agents)

Yeah, somebody got into Trent's ear--and it was probably Bartelstein throwing around numbers and promises....none of which are likely to come to fruition. Trent has signed with an agent who cannot put the time into Trent that he needs for adequate representation, who is not respected for his talent or character by GMs and scouts, and who puts 2/3 of his clients somewhere other than the NBA.

Trent is an idiot- thanks for the confirmation.