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Duke in the NBA: Marvin Bagley III Inks Deal With Puma

By Kevin Connelly

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 17: Marvin Bagley III #35 of the Duke Blue Devils drives to the basket against Stanford Robinson #13 of the Rhode Island Rams during the first half in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 17, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 17: Marvin Bagley III #35 of the Duke Blue Devils drives to the basket against Stanford Robinson #13 of the Rhode Island Rams during the first half in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 17, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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A future Duke in the NBA star has made the next step in his career, signing a massive sneaker deal with Puma.

Marvin Bagley III makes major headlines both on and off the court.

He is projected to be a Top-3 selection in the NBA Draft on Thursday night, in teaming with Bleacher Report he has released a rap single, and now he has signed the biggest rookie sneaker deal since Kevin Durant signed with Nike in 2007.

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Bagley isn’t the only top draft choice signing with Puma, DeAndre Ayton, who many assume will go No. 1 Overall on Thursday is also reportedly signing with Puma, as the two will try and revitalize the company’s basketball relevance.

Puma also signed Texas Tech guard Zhaire Smith to a shoe contract.

In an attempt to lure other top NBA Draft prospects, Puma announced that legendary and star rapper Jay-Z will become the company’s President of Basketball Operations.

Being involved in the sports business aspect of the game is nothing strange for Jay-Z, who founded the sports agency company Roc Nation.

Roc Nation is the agents for the biggest names in all of sports such as Durant of the Golden State Warriors, Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners and CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees.

Back in the 1960’s Puma has Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier of the New York Knicks under contract and then the next big name star to sign with Puma was Vince Carter in the 2000’s.

With the major news coming out of Puma today, the company is said to have another contract with Frazier, this one having the ‘lifetime’ tag to it.

As Puma has a great relationship with many stars in the music and pop culture industry, the company is on a mission to compete with Nike and Adidas, along with others to reel in the top athletes in the world and they are pinning their hopes on Bagley, Ayton, and Smith to bring them to the top.

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