Thread Sports Management, an NBA player representation firm owned by veteran agent Bernie Lee, has merged into Quartexx Group, a firm that is owned by Lino Saputo Jr., one of the richest people in Canada.
Financial terms were not disclosed. But the basketball player practice will now be known as Quartexx Basketball.
Quartexx Group is based in Montreal and is the parent of Quartexx Hockey, which represents many top NHL players, including Bruins center Patrice Bergeron, Coyotes wing Taylor Hall, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, Maple Leafs wing Mitch Marner and Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse.
Jimmy Butler is among the players represented by Thread Sports.getty images
Thread Sports Management is based in Toronto and represents international basketball and NBA players including Heat guard Jimmy Butler and Pacers guard Justin Holiday. The firm also represents Gonzaga guard Admon Gilder, a prospect for this November’s NBA draft.
“Admon played on arguably the best NCAA team, Gonzaga, at the time of the NCAA season being ended due to the pandemic and projects as a high level, two-way player with his ability to shoot the ball and defend,” Lee said.
Lee said the main reason he is merging his firm into Quartexx Group is the resources the deal will provide and the expanded opportunities the firm will have. “They do really, really well in hockey,” Lee said. “I think we can join up and kind of pool resources.”
Saputo was named Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year by the Financial Post in 2019. He is the chairman and CEO of Saputo Inc., a global dairy products company founded by his grandfather. His father, Lino Saputo Sr., and family were ranked as the eighth wealthiest in Canada by Forbes.
The Saputo family owns the Montreal Impact, which plays in Saputo Stadium. Saputo Jr.’s brother, Joey Saputo, is president of the MLS club.
■ WASSERMAN SIGNS NBA DRAFT PICKS: Wasserman has signed several prospects for November’s NBA draft, including Florida State forward Patrick Williams, a projected lottery pick. Williams was ranked No. 11 last week on the nbadraft.net mock draft. He will be represented by Thad Foucher and Joe Smith.
Smith
“The biggest thing is he is one of the youngest players in the draft — he just turned 19 a couple of weeks ago,” Smith said of Williams. “That is something a lot of people wouldn’t know when you look at him, because he is so physically well put together. He has everything this NBA wants. He’s a big, big guy who can really move and with him being so young, that makes the ceiling very high of how good he can be.”
Smith joined Wasserman four years ago after playing international professional basketball for 14 years all over the world, but mostly in Italy. “I can speak a little Portuguese, but I am fluent in Italian.”
Foucher and Smith work together and represent players including Thunder forward/guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter. For this year’s NBA draft, which will be held Nov. 18, Smith and Foucher represent Auburn center Austin Wiley.
Wasserman also represents Aleksej Pokusevski, a 7-foot power forward from Serbia who plays for Olympiacos, and Oregon point guard Payton Pritchard. Jason Ranne, Wasserman COO and executive vice president of team sports, represents Pokusevski and agent Greg Lawrence represents Pritchard.
Ranne also recently signed Tristan Vukcevic, a 17-year-old, 6-foot-10 Serbian power forward who plays for Real Madrid who will be eligible for the 2022 NBA draft. Vukcevic participated in the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp, put on by the NBA and FIBA in Chicago in February.
■ CAA SIGNS FIVE FIGHTERS: CAA Sports has bolstered its combat sports practice by signing five mixed martial arts fighters, including Joey Davis, a former NCAA four-time wrestling champion and undefeated welterweight fighter for Bellator MMA.
CAA Sports has also signed three female fighters: Joanna Jedrzejczyk, a fighter in UFC’s strawweight division; Sara McMann, a UFC bantamweight fighter, who won a silver medal for wrestling in the 2004 Olympics; and Katlyn Chookagian, a UFC flyweight fighter.
Additionally, CAA Sports represents Bellator featherweight A.J. McKee, the son of longtime MMA fighter Antonio McKee.
All five fighters will be represented by a team of agents led by Nez Balelo and Marquel Martin for work inside and outside the octagon. Jedrzejczyk, Chookagian and McMann were previously represented by Ballengee Group. Davis and McKee were previously without representation.
■ NFLPA EXTENDS THREE-YEAR RULE: The NFL Players Association has moved to extend, for one year, the three-year rule for agents to have negotiated a contract for an active NFL player to keep their certification.
The change to add an extra year was made due the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions on travel, which make it more difficult for agents to recruit and sign clients. It is a temporary and not permanent change.
The rule change this year will allow about 50 of the union’s approximately 800 agents to remain certified. Those agents would have seen their certification automatically expire as they had not negotiated a deal in a three-year span.
The rule was put into place in 2005 by the union in an effort to cull the number of agents without clients.
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
