Lillard to opt out adidas shoe deal, detonating bidding war with rivals

Kobe Bryant could have taken the veteran minimum and had a ton of cap space to work with while being GM of the Lakers. Instead, he handcuffed his own team. Bryant is going to be a very well-paid TV guy after he's done. He's awesome right now on TV, and without any real training. I say that as a legitimate Kobe Hater.

LeBron James is also set for life. He could easily take a contending team's MLE, and still rake in hundreds of millions over the next 10 years from endorsements.

 

I hope he goes with Brand Jordan!

 

I got a pair of these still, my favorite after jordan Vs

 

Hmmmmmm, Do you work for nike in one of there stores or at there call center? My step-son works at Nike's call center and he can only wear Nike gear. Believe it or not but it's an unwritten rule of his employment that they strictly enforce.

 

If I am Blazer management, I am keeping a close eye on this transaction and how it plays out. If Lillard goes from Adidas to Nike for basically more money; can we expect the same type of thing to happen when Lillard's contract with the blazers come up?

I'm interested to see how this all plays out.

 

3RA1N1AC - I had those shoes back in the day. Awesome!

 

No. I think Lillard will give the Blazers a little bit of a discount to help build a championship team around him. Maybe he'll go after more shoe $$ to offset the contract $$. At least I hope that will be the case.

 

I don't think he will. This will be his first big contract. I don't think he's going to take less.

 

HCP - PLEASE change that pic!!!! I get grossed out every time I stumble across your messages

 

Nike is very strict about this. You cannot walk around on their campus or even jog through their woods wearing competitors sports gear . . . shoes or clothes

 

He should go with one of these

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/forgotten-sneaker-brands-90s-mitre-spx-british-knights-la-gear-hi-tec

 

Then he will just be another soccer player

 

We don't want him going back to Adidas though

 

One of the cap experts in here discussed this briefly before the All-Star break but it probably bears repeating.

If Lillard meets certain criteria (like Named to the All-NBA first, second or third team two times or Voted an All-Star starter two times or Named regular-season MVP one time.) then he is eligible for the longer and bigger MAX which if he demands could hurt our cap situation just that much more. I call it the Derrick Rose provision (I believe he was the first to be eligible for it and take it).

The first two are probably most likely (and not extremely likely at all but still).

Edit: Here is an article on this: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/spor...rick-Rose-gets-rule-in-new-NBA-CBA/56188340/1

Edit: The longer extension isn't tied to the Derrick Rose rule. The rule is: Every team is allowed one designated player who can get a five-year maximum extension on his rookie contract. So that may or may not be Lillard.

Bottom line, Lillard should get paid but if he tries to milk out ever last penny out of us then it could hurt us a lot in building a team.

 

I doubt he'll leave money on the table. I WISH that he would, but it's a very rare player who leaves money on the table. The only player I can think of who has done it is Duncan. I don't really count LBJ/Bosh, since it was reported that they'd make more money in MIA due to FL tax rates.
But players who aren't TRULY max players would be far better served by taking a little less money so that the team can afford to build a better roster around them. The difference between making $80m and $100m is negligible (especially when you have additional endorsement contracts) - that extra $20m doesn't bump you into a better lifestyle. Take less money and you can have a better team, which benefits your "brand" because you're going deeper in the POs and maybe winning championships.

 

Shoes and teams are two different things.

 

Re-signing Lillard should be easy. He is an obvious max player who the Blazers can offer the most money too at the earliest time. Blazers will offer max amt at max yrs (no brainer) and Lillard will accept (no brainer)

 

You are correct under the rules of the CBA but as we all know to well, that doesn't have any affect on endorsement deals nor other media related streams of potential revenue. Bigger market means bigger endorsement deals.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

I think that Lillard has a strong sense that this is a business and he's going to treat it that way so for now, I have to agree with you. Blazer management (Even though they may deny it) has to be paying attention as how this plays out.