Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillinhgam sign deals with popular shoe company

After teaming up together in college at Kentucky, Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham will team up once again as professionals.

While they won’t be wearing the same uniform, they’ll be wearing the same signature check mark on their feet. Both Sheppard and Dillingham have signed shoe deals with Nike, according to ESPN’s Nick DePaula. Terms of both deals have not been disclosed, but rookie sneaker contracts usually extend beyond one year. Sheppard and Dillingham have been spotted wearing a rotation of Nike shoes early into the 2024-25 season.

Considering they were wearing nothing but Nikes during their one season at Kentucky, this was an easy match for both the players and the company.

If all goes well for the pair of Top 10 draft selections, they could ultimately land a signature shoe one day down the road, similar to how former Wildcat guard Devin Booker recently released his first signature shoe at age 27.

OFFICIAL: Rockets #3 pick Reed Sheppard signed a shoe deal with Nike ahead of his debut season. 📄✍️ pic.twitter.com/ZxntFRXCM3

— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) November 1, 2024

OFFICIAL: TWolves rookie guard Rob Dillingham has signed with Nike. 📄✍️

Subscribe to my @Boardroom Sneaker Game newsletter for a look at all of the 2024 NBA rookie class shoe deals: https://t.co/L6ismsV58H pic.twitter.com/T7whaSwpbz

— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) October 31, 2024

Despite being picked in the lottery back in June, neither Sheppard nor Dillingham have seen the floor all that often early into their rookie campaigns. Don’t expect that to last though.

Sheppard, who was taken third overall, has appeared in all seven games for the Houston Rockets but is averaging just 3.1 points in 9.3 minutes per outing. He’s played over 10 minutes in just three of those seven contests with a season-high seven points coming in his most recent outing on Monday.

Meanwhile, Dillingham, who was taken eighth, didn’t make his NBA debut until the Minnesota Timberwolves’ sixth game of the season. He’s seen the floor just twice, failing to play more than 10 minutes in either. Dillingham scored his first NBA points on Monday in a 21-point win over the Hornets.