Will James Harden make a big jump?
Apparently Harden has been making strides as of late in the NBA ever since jumping aboard the Houston Rockets; but as far as endorsement deals are concerned, the bearded one could be wearing new kicks and sportswear from Adidas soon.
With Harden's Nike deal already expired, Adidas will try to lure the Rockets guard to their fold. Adidas has already submitted a $200 million bid spread over 13 years for Harden and if Nike has any plans of retaining Harden, they have until the end of next week to match the said offer.
The $200 million offer is quite huge, reportedly half of what Adidas paid to the NBA when it became the league's official uniform supplier. After cutting ties with the NBA earlier this year, it looks like the three-stripe brand will be diverting their funds on Harden instead.
Ironically, Nike will be taking over as the NBA official uniform supplier after the 2016–17 NBA season.
If the deal materializes, the 25-year-old player stands to earn more from the endorsement deal than what he gets from the Rockets as a player. In 2012, Harden signed with the Rockets an $80 million contract extension that will run all the way to the 2017–18 NBA season.
Speaking of Nike, the company has also hooked up the top two rookie picks of the 2015 NBA Draft to endorsement deals.
Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves and D'Angelo Russel of the Los Angeles Lakers are the latest additions to the Nike Elite roster, although more players are expected to be added in the coming weeks.
Both Towns and Russell showed some of their potential in the NBA Summer League but the two are expected to flourish and improve even more once the NBA regular season kicks off this October.
