'Marketing' keeping Howard from Chicago?

Somehow I missed this.

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For now, Dwight Howard has delivered the Magic a list of three teams that can trade for him this season with the assurance he’ll sign a contract extension with them: the Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks. The Bulls have the most attractive package of young players – and the possibility of draft picks – for the Magic, but the NBA that Jordan created for superstar players is a significant part of the reason that Howard will take a pass on Chicago.

Adidas has two franchise endorsers: Derrick Rose and Howard. Rose signed a $94 million extension with the Bulls, and sources say Adidas is working on a lifetime shoe deal for him now.

And as one high-ranking sneaker executive says, “Adidas simply cannot have its two signature players on the same team in the same market. … Derrick is the face of that market, owns that market, and Adidas can’t possibly have maximum bang for its buck with Dwight there.

“It serves Adidas no purpose. They need them as rivals in competing markets.”

Howard knows this, too. He has an Adidas renewal on deck in the next year, and Los Angeles and Brooklyn guarantee him maximum money. The shoes aren’t the sole reason, but it’s a reality. In an NBA where the owners want the superstars worth $50 million and more to make far less than market value, it’s hard to imagine you’ll get them to take far less on endorsements.

And as had been the case with LeBron James’ free agency, Rose will never go out of his way to convince Howard this is a trade that he ought to push. “Derrick is too loyal to the guys he plays with to get involved with doing that,” a source close to Rose said. “It wasn’t his nature [to recruit] with LeBron, and it still isn’t now.”

For the record, Adidas’ vice president for global basketball, Lawrence Norman, says: “As a partner, we’re completely supportive of Dwight with whatever decision he makes. He’s an outstanding partner with broad appeal to fans across the world.”

Norman is telling the truth: Adidas will still pay Howard well wherever he winds up, but Orlando and Chicago won’t get him paid and marketed the way Los Angeles and Brooklyn will. Rose could become the highest-paid shoe endorser in the NBA with his next Adidas contract, sources said, and remember: Shoe companies don’t market teams. They market individuals. That’s true of the NBA, too.

That’s why Howard will end up with the Lakers or the Nets – Los Angeles or New York. Everything could change with Howard in Chicago, because everything changes with the league’s best center and best point guard on the floor together. Nevertheless, this NBA season starts with Howard in Orlando, and so much of the sport’s balance of power will be dictated by where he ends it.

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[rquoter]A couple days ago, there was the odd but very believable story that Dwight Howard might not be considering the Chicago Bulls because of his Adidas shoe contract. Really kind of wakes you up to the power sponsorships and shoe companies have in the league.

Just to pile on to that, Bulls VP of Basketball Operations basically acknowledged that's the case, but without saying Howard's name of course. Via CSN Chicago:

"We don't want to talk about other teams' players but obviously there are situations out there that you know that you have to look at," VP of Basketball Operations John Paxson said on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN radio WMVP-AM 1000 Wednesday. "The other part of it is you hope those types of players want to come here. Sometimes, at least what you hear from agents, it doesn't have anything to do with basketball. It has more to do with marketing and whatnot. Those are the things you don't have under control when an agent gets involved and doesn't even want to talk to you. All you do is keep trying, and we certainly will."​

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But there remains a question as to what Rose's team will look like by the time the next playoff push comes around, with sources confirming that the Bulls have a strong interest in landing Orlando center Dwight Howard should the Magic ever pull the trigger on a deal for their franchise star. But Howard's well-publicized wish list of possible new teams ended with the Lakers, Mavericks and Nets, leaving plenty to wonder why he wouldn't want to pair with Rose.

There are reports that a shoe company is to blame, since Rose and Howard are the top NBA clients for Adidas and maximizing its merchandise is tougher if both are in the same market. Other industry sources say Howard is jealous of Rose's top billing, that he doesn't want to be overshadowed and see his dream of becoming a global icon dashed.

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