a) You never know who might blow you away.

b)

Roc Nation needs the reps. Rich Kleiman, Durant's primary agent, spent most of his career in the music industry. Sports are pretty new to him and you can see that in his other experiences so far. He couldn't keep Willie Cauley-Stein's stock from dropping suddenly in the lead-up to the 2015 draft. (Justise Winslow, another Roc Nation client, experienced the same drop). Wilson Chandler's veteran extension was very team-friendly.

We can explain away each of these things but overall it doesn't speak to great agent work and doesn't give the agency much to point to when recruiting new clients. A very public process expands the CV a bit and makes you look more legitimate. It also lays the groundwork for building or expanding relationships with guys like Doc Rivers, Gregg Popovich, Bob Myers, etc.

By comparison, look at how the perception of Rich Paul changed after the summer of 2014. Back then he was just seen as Lebron James's flunky. Now he's taken seriously.