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Phoenix Suns rookie guard Jalen Lecque, a former NC State commit, has switched agents and is now represented by Rich Paul of Klutch Sports.
Paul represents NBA superstars including LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Ben Simmons. Lecque joins Trae Young, Lonzo Ball, Jusuf Nurkic, Mitchell Robinson, OG Anunoby, Malik Beasley and Ben McLemore as players who have switched to Klutch since the beginning of 2019.
The news about Lecque was first shared via Twitter and was then confirmed by a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke to USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s LeBron Wire on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Lecque, 20, was a four-star recruit coming out of high school at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. He was ranked the No. 41 overall prospect in the nation by 247 Sports in the Class of 2019.
The 6-foot-3 guard, however, opted to forego the collegiate process and enter the 2019 NBA Draft. Lecque was invited to the 2019 NBA Draft Combine, where he recorded the best vertical leap (43 inches) among all participants.
I would love to see Jalen Lecque in a future NBA Dunk Contest pic.twitter.com/pC2xXRveK5
— David Astramskas (@redapples) June 17, 2020
While he was not selected in the draft, he secured a three-year deal from the Phoenix Suns. The first two years of the contract were guaranteed for $2.4 million, as negotiated by his former agent Austin Walton of NEXT Sports.
Despite going undrafted, the average annual value of his contract was more lucrative than the majority of players selected in the second round. In fact, there were more than half a dozen prospects who heard their name called on draft night but later signed two-way deals with their franchises.
He was part of a new trend among players (e.g. Toronto’s Terence Davis, Minnesota’s Naz Reid) that went undrafted but still ended up with a more secure contract than they may have been offered if drafted.
Lecque played 33 games for the Northern Arizona Suns, averaging 13.3 points with 3.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He also made occasional appearances in the NBA, becoming the sixth-youngest player on a roster in 2019-20.
