ESPN NBA

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports reports:

In his search for a new agent, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard apparently is considering a heavy hitter from outside the world of Major League Baseball.

Howard either has chosen or is strongly considering Leon Rose, the agent for NBA superstars LeBron James and Allen Iverson, major-league sources tell FOXSports.com.

But Rose, an attorney based in Pennsauken, N.J., outside of Philadelphia, said in an E-mail that he is not Howard's new agent.

"While it would be an honor to represent a player of Ryan Howard's magnitude in any sport, I have not spoken to Ryan nor do I represent him," Rose told FOXSports.com.

Howard's decision to dismiss Larry Reynolds and change agents was first reported Saturday by the Philadelphia Daily News.

It is not known whether Howard, who would be Rose's first baseball client, has filed a player-agent designation form with the Major League Players' Association.

As we have discussed on TrueHoop before, sources have told me that the primary way Rose recruits athletes is by paying William Wesley to steer them his way.