Ben Simmons already looks great in purple and gold. If he gets things his way, his professional uniform will feature the same colors.
The No. 1 prospect in the 2016 NBA Draft and his agent, Rich Paul, reportedly are pushing for Simmons to be drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers, according the The Vertical’s Nick DePaula, citing sources.
Unlike other prospects pushing in certain directions in the past, Simmons’ reasoning seems to be less related to basketball. The former LSU star currently is deciding between two lucrative shoe contract offers from Nike and adidas, and playing for the Lakers could sweeten the pot.
From The Vertical:
As it stands, Simmons has five-year endorsement offers from adidas and Nike. Adidas is offering a $10 million deal that also includes a $2 million signing bonus and a $1 million incentive bonus for being named Rookie of the Year. There are also several other on-court performance triggers that would provide Simmons with elevated marketing, extra resources and possibly his own signature shoe should he play at an All-Star level.
Nike is offering $7.5 million over five years with fewer performance incentives than the adidas contract structure. Nike, which presented second to Simmons last week, has shown an unwillingness to budge, sources said. Both offers are considered fair for a top pick.
DePaula further explains that while market size hasn’t mattered as much recently for shoe deals with stars like Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard, for example, emerging in smaller markets like Oklahoma City and Portland, the draw for (potential) star players in markets like Los Angeles and New York continue to be exceptions. He cites Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell, who signed with Nike after the company “significantly upped its offer” once Russell was drafted by L.A.
But now that the ping pong balls have fallen and the Lakers do not own the No. 1 overall pick, is the strategy the same? Only time will tell, but crazier things have fallen in L.A.’s favor in the past.
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