Claimed: Have the Times Changed? [ 1/2]

[TurnDaddy 323]

 

Ottawa, ON - Earlier this afternoon we decided to stop by Jones Agencies and see if we could get a couple words out of Mister Jones as Jones Agencies and their client, VHL Hopeful, Niko Bogdanavic. We were fortunate enough to be able to sit down with both and pick their brains ahead of the big night, but what was surprising to us was what Mister Jones had to say about the draft process with this particular draft. 

 

With the draft tonight, we have to imagine things have been pretty hectic for you guys up to this point. 

 

 "Actually..." Mister Jones started "It has been awfully quiet. Its weird, really. In all my years of being an agent, and even in my stints as a General Manager, the draft is the busiest time for me. Setting up pre-draft interviews, private workouts for the clients and prospective team management, and just engaging in back and forth talk if a team shows a ton of desire for a client. This year there has been one team to contact us. One. I don't know, and I would hate to think, that the reason behind this is because of what happened with myself and Tony three years ago. If teams are holding that against me, Niko does not deserve that. He has worked his tail off to get this far, and for teams to just ignore him based on my fault, it would seriously be ignorant. Now, with that said, we could just be seeing a change of the times. Maybe teams now have such a good grasp on what to expect out of a player via scouting, that they do not even need to hold any pre-draft workouts, or bring a prospective player in for an interview to see where their mind lays. Maybe we are just past all that. Who knows. Personally when I was a General Manager, that was my favorite part of the draft. You don't want to be stuck with a player who does not want to play with you, but its also a great tool to just to get to know these guys a little better. Build a potential relationship. Who knows? I'll just chalk it up to it being a change of the times, but if it is because of me, I'd have no choice but to let Niko find another agent so that he can continue his career. I can not bring him down just because of my past." 

 

Niko, do you have anything to say about this? 

 

"I do not think it is because of Mister Jones. The past is the past, he obviously has a strong connection to this game and he has helped me tremendously. I went from being undrafted, stuck in Serbia, to being arguably, a top five pick in this league. That is not just a testament about my work ethic and will to strive, but his as well. He wants nothing but the best for me and he continues to push me to be better. I know we will be a great team and a great addition to any team. I don't look at this like teams do not want me." 

 

As soon as Niko ended that sentence Mister Jones' phone rang. He looked excited and we could hear him say "Just one minute." and then turned to Niko and said "you gotta take this.", turned to us and said "Thanks for coming, but we have to go." One would imagine that was another team calling. Will Niko hear his name called tonight, or is the sneaking suspicion of Mister Jones possibly being black balled a reality? The draft kicks off tonight at 9:30EST. 

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Review

Very nice piece about your player and your agent. Don't worry about it, I was only contacted by two or three teams as well. one of them had no shot at getting me but still asked anyway so it was really two teams and I had just came off making my best player. Mostly GM's have made up their mind of who they want at the time of the draft so only those who think they have a shot of getting you would ask you questions and stuff. So it is getting a bit weird. I believe in you though, can't wait to see Niko make an impact at the VHL level.