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Atlanta Hawks' All-Star Trae Young may be the newest sneaker free agent on the market with reports of him and Adidas failing to renew his expiring sneaker deal. Signed to Adidas in 2018 and receiving a restructured deal in 2020, Young and his sponsor have released three performance basketball sneakers under the young star's signature line. With a breakup imminent, however, Young was seen rocking a number of different brands during the beginning of Hawks Training Camp.
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All throughout last season, Trae Young was seen sporting his newest Adidas TRAE 3 on-court for the Atlanta Hawks. His signature line certainly wasn't one of Adidas' most popular, but his shoes were constantly praised as being one of the better on-court performance sneakers in their basketball line. With his signature deal expiring, however, we have reason to believe Young is beginning the search for other suitors for his new deal.
Trae Young was spotted wearing the newest Air Jordan 39 sneakers during Hawks' shootaround. Shortly after, he was seen wearing the new ANTA ShockWave 5, the same sneakers Kyrie Irving began wearing after leaving Nike and signing with ANTA.
What's next for Trae Young?
As Trae Young begins his search for a new sneaker sponsor, he'll effectively become the biggest name in terms of an NBA All-Star without a sponsor to call home. It's also worth noting that Young did photograph during Hawks' Media Day while wearing his signature Adidas sneakers, so it's still up in the air whether they will in fact not renew his contract. However, where there's usually smoke, we can find fire as previous NBA stars have taken similar paths in the last couple of years.
In signing with Jordan Brand, Young will join superstars like Zion Williamson, Luka Doncic, and Jayson Tatum who already have established their signature presence with the Jumpman. However, they're constantly signing new talent to keep up with the likes of Nike and Adidas, so Trae Young would certainly boost their stock by becoming part of the team.
ANTA, on the other hand, holds a much smaller presence in the signature sneaker space, sponsoring names like Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson in their signature brands. Kyrie Irving also holds position as the brand's Chief Creative Officer and has full-reign over his own operation, so the free that comes with signing to ANTA could become a point of sale for Young and his team.
Ultimately, we'll be monitoring this situation closely as Trae Young begins discussions with a number of brands. However, our guess is that he's on his way out with Adidas and will likely find a new sponsor before the new NBA season begins.
Which brand would you like to see Trae Young sign with?
