Monday August 3 seems to be the day of apparel deals and news coming out. Earlier it was reported that James Harden has received an offer from Adidas for $200 million over the next 13 years to leave Nike. Now it is being reported that Nike has made a few additions to their roster by signing the top two draft picks, Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell, to deals according to Matt Moore of CBSSports.com.
Nike sneakers account for about 90 percent of all basketball sneakers sold so they are clearly way out in front of both Adidas and Under Armour. Nike has also recently signed a deal with the NBA to become the leagues official partner for all apparel that will start in 2017. Adidas' offer to Harden is their way of trying to start over with a new star that could lift Adidas from the number three spot.
Nike on the other hand just continues to add to their roster with the top two talents entering the NBA. Russell will now be teammates and Nike label mates with Kobe Bryant. Nike always seems to be ahead of the game when it comes to signing the top athletes and this is no different. Towns and Russell could potentially be the next generation of stars and the fact that Nike scooped them up at the same time is good for their future.
Last year Nike lost out on Stephen Curry to Under Armour and it is possible they will lose Harden too so these two signings are a good look for them. Not that Nike was in any trouble as they continue to dominate the game but they don't want to be moving in the wrong direction.
In comparison to what Nike did Adidas signed Justise Winslow and Kelly Oubre. Winslow became a star at Duke last year and has the potential to make some noise in Miami, while Oubre might have been signed as a hedge against Winslow possibly being a bust. Adidas is basically betting that at least one out of Oubre and Winslow will become a star and help move the brand forward in the future. Oubre joins Washington Wizards teammate John Wall as a member of the Adidas family.
With Adidas no longer being partnered with the NBA for apparel they likely now have more money to spend which is why they were able to offer Harden so much money. Right now Nike continues to dominate the game and regardless of how much money Adidas has to throw at these athletes they need a complete culture change in order to pry the big stars away from Nike, and maybe Harden is the start of that.
