Adidas has signed potentially the biggest star out of this draft, and they spent big money to do it.
Number one pick Andrew Wiggins has signed with Adidas, reports Sam Amick and Jeff Zillgitt of the USA Today.Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1 pick overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the June draft, has reached a shoe and apparel deal with Adidas, a person familiar with the deal told USA TODAY Sports.
The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the deal until it was announced officially, which is expected Wednesday.
While the exact numbers are not in, Darren Rovell of ESPN said it was a multi-year deal worth at least $2 million a year to start, other rumors had it going much higher than that. However, some of the early reports should be questioned, because PBT has learned the deal is more like $10-12 million total to start over five years. Marc Spears put it this way.
Andrew Wiggins' new Adidas shoe contract is the most for a rookie with the shoe company, a source said.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 9, 2014
(That is the largest Adidas deal, not overall, which is still Nike’s rookie deal with LeBron.)
Wiggins is a super athletic swingman with a world of potential — he has good skills to go with the athleticism plus he works hard on defense. He seems coachable and the early reports out of Cavs camp are very positive (as if they would say something else). We’ll see how good he really is but there is a lot of potential. And even more hype.
Adidas has been trying to grab a number of top guards and wingmen including Derrick Rose, Damian Lillard, and John Wall, plus big men Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, and Joakim Noah (not to mention WNBA star Candace Parker). While it’s nice to have big men in the mix, it is scoring wings and guards that sell shoes.
Adidas is betting on Wiggins to do just that.