Report: Agency CAA was behind Knicks deal for Bargnani

Did the New York Knicks acquisition of Andrea Bargnani this summer seem a little strange to you?

You and everybody else, pal.

The Knicks sent the Toronto Raptors a 2016 first-round pick, second-round picks in 2014 and 2017, Steve Novak and the contract flotsam of Quentin Richardson and Marcus Camby for Bargnani in July, even though the Italian was coming off a pair of unsuccessful, injury-plagued seasons.

Things haven't worked out well, with Bargnani's contract hanging like an albatross entering the summer and the supposed sharpshooter sitting on the sidelines injured.

Well, don't blame the Knicks. Or do, but don't blame them for overvaluing Bargnani, because it wasn't the management team that pushed the deal, according to Bleacher Report (emphasis added):

(Donnie Walsh) resigned three years later, fed up with the incessant meddling by owner James L. Dolan and his advisers, including CAA (Creative Artists Agency) and the ubiquitous power broker William Wesley.

Since then, CAA has only dug its tentacles deeper. The agency represents Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, coach Mike Woodson, assistant general manager Allan Houston and director of player personnel Mark Warkentien. Wesley played a role in Mills’ hiring last fall.

And it was CAA, according to sources, that persuaded Dolan to make the ill-fated trade for its client Andrea Bargnani—over the concerns of the Knicks’ front office.

So the all-powerful agency was behind the Bargnani acquisition, which makes some sense when you consider that Bargnani is represented by Leon Rose of CAA.

Many have speculated that the hiring of Phil Jackson as president is with the hope that he can help break CAA's influence on the team, which seems a tall task if Carmelo Anthony is to remain in the fold.