Dennis Smith Jr. signs multi-million dollar shoe deal with Under Armour

Dennis Smith Jr. signed a three-year shoe deal with Under Armour that could be worth as much as $6 million dollars with incentives, per a report from Nick DePaula at ESPN. This is perhaps somewhat surprising given Smith’s history with Adidas throughout high school and college, but money usually wins.

DSJ waited until after he competed in the Vegas Summer League to sign a shoe deal because he was unsatisfied with some of the offers he’d been getting, which were worth less than $1 million per year, according to DePaula. So Smith netted himself with that decision.

Under Armour also has shown a willingness to pay a premium in endorsement deals to put a dent into the market shares of the larger sports brands. In college sports, for example, they’ve shelled out some big dollars to add big-name programs like Notre Dame and UCLA. That may have worked in Smith’s favor here, too.