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Here's how the shoe endorsements are lining up so far for the projected Top 8. Nike believes in Kuminga.

Cade Cunningham - Nike

Jalen Green - Adidas

Evan Mobley - Adidas

Jalen Suggs - Adidas

Scottie Barnes - Unsigned

James Bouknight - Unsigned

Jonathan Kuminga - Nike

Moses Moody - Unsigned

https://hoopshype.com/storyline/sneaker-deals/

I'm gonna cop them China Giddeys

Not bad for Adidas getting Jalen Green and Suggs.

Adidas definitely the big winner here.

I think Green will be the first guy (probably only) in this draft to get his own signature shoe from a major brand.

cdubbz wrote:Not bad for Adidas getting Jalen Green and Suggs.

huge gets for adidas, +Mobley since he's gonna be the best player in this class.

Wonder what’s the next move for Curry brand. The designs aren’t cool enough to land athletes. Sneakers isn’t their strength.

So really the original projected top 5 all got shoes

I cant imagine Barnes or Moody will get one.. they usually go to pure scorers

Also seems like Puma slowed down on signing everyone. They got Lamelo Ball and a few from that draft class. I’d love for them to be a contender in the sneaker game. Maybe they focus on Lamelo Ball signature line and then continue signing signature athletes

In retrospect I wish Brian Cardinal had a shoe, I'd have bought that.. just run around at full speed for 48 minutes like a **** lunatic. Commercial practically writes itself

Curry pushing Bouknight up so he can sign him up.

cdubbz wrote:Wonder what’s the next move for Curry brand. The designs aren’t cool enough to land athletes. Sneakers isn’t their strength.

They don’t do enough marketing. I’ve seen him more in milk commercials.

Early on Nike spent a lot of money on commercials. Jordan, Barkley, and Bo helped sell the brand and products.

Time for Klay to start recruiting for Anta.

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cdubbz wrote:Also seems like Puma slowed down on signing everyone. They got Lamelo Ball and a few from that draft class. I’d love for them to be a contender in the sneaker game. Maybe they focus on Lamelo Ball signature line and then continue signing signature athletes

I find their approach fascinating. Went bonkers in the 2018 draft, signed very few vets outside of the legacy Demarcus deal and have been largely quiet since then.

My outside-looking-in take would be that they were given a huge budget to start and told almost immediately that if they didn't turn a big profit, they would have no budget moving forward. There's no way a new entrant can turn a profit that quickly, so they probably viewed the 2018 class as their long-term investments. If 1 or 2 of them 'hit' then they have their Curry athlete. It's actually kind of working with MPJ and Ayton - then the strategic LaMelo signing as well. I don't hate their shoes, they just don't really appeal to me.

and1GS wrote:

cdubbz wrote:Also seems like Puma slowed down on signing everyone. They got Lamelo Ball and a few from that draft class. I’d love for them to be a contender in the sneaker game. Maybe they focus on Lamelo Ball signature line and then continue signing signature athletes

I find their approach fascinating. Went bonkers in the 2018 draft, signed very few vets outside of the legacy Demarcus deal and have been largely quiet since then.

My outside-looking-in take would be that they were given a huge budget to start and told almost immediately that if they didn't turn a big profit, they would have no budget moving forward. There's no way a new entrant can turn a profit that quickly, so they probably viewed the 2018 class as their long-term investments. If 1 or 2 of them 'hit' then they have their Curry athlete. It's actually kind of working with MPJ and Ayton - then the strategic LaMelo signing as well. I don't hate their shoes, they just don't really appeal to me.

Yeah makes sense. I think Lamelo was a hit. Obviously his sneaked need to look decent, but he’s more popular than other signature athletes like Donovan Mitchell, Zion, Luka, and past guys like Russ, etc.