NBA 18/19: 3 details to note about Kawhi Leonard's New Balance deal

Where Kawhi Leonard will be playing basketball next season still remains a mystery, although his sneaker future has now been decided. The 27-year-old has signed a multi-year shoe deal with New Balance, and he is now set to be the first notable NBA star sponsored by the company since James Worthy in the 1980s.

The deal ends Leonard's long-time deal with the Jordan brand, and here we will look at three important details from Kawhi's deal with New Balance.

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#3 Jordan can still match the deal, but won't

Leonard will no longer be wearing Jordan apparel

It is common practice with shoe deals that incumbent brands are provided with a 10-day window to match their competitors offer. This rule applies to Leonard's current deal, although the Jordan brand has been resigned to letting Leonard leave for months now, and Leonard's partnership with New Balance should be announced next week.

It has been reported that Leonard wanted to leave Jordan due to being disappointed with their offer of $5 million a year, in addition to the brand's refusal to give him a signature shoe line. Despite Leonard wanting to leave, Jordan could have retained him by matching New Balance's offer, although the Jordan brand was not willing to go anywhere near the offer, which brings us to the next point.

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#2 Leonard will now have one of the biggest sneaker deals

Leonard wearing Jordan sneakers

The two-time Defensive Player of the Year will now earn considerably more than the $500,000 dollars that he was earning each year from his existing deal from Jordan. ESPN has reported that in order to convince Leonard to sign, New Balance has offered well in excess of $5 million per season, and his new deal will put him into the top 15 earners in the NBA.

The executives at the Jordan brand seemingly believed that Leonard was not worth a huge amount of money, whereas New Balance had to overpay due to the fact that the sportswear brand currently has no presence in the NBA.

#1 Face of the company

Steph Curry has helped Under Armour gain a place within the lucrative basketball market

Until recently, most sportswear suppliers believed that the NBA was an impossible market to break into, due to the dominance of Nike, and to a lesser degree, Adidas. Steph Curry and Under Armour changed all this, as their partnership has demonstrated that superstar athletes sell shoes, no matter what the brand.

Puma also returned to the NBA market over the summer, sponsoring a number of the most buzzworthy draft picks. It appears that New Balance now wants in on the NBA action, and the company obviously believes that Kawhi Leonard is the man who can help them make some noise. Leonard is one of the best players in the NBA who is currently entering his prime, although it remains to be seen if the All-Star can move shoes for New Balance.

The Raptors man does not generate the same type of fanbase that players like Steph Curry and LeBron James attract, and Leonard is also notably absent from social media. The player's private nature means that he rarely conducts interviews or attends media events so New Balance may require the 27-year-old to be more prominent in the public eye going forward.

With all things considered, it will be interesting to see over the coming months whether New Balance's sponsorship of Leonard has any effect on their basketball market share.