35m-a-year Basketball Starlet Ben Simmons Set To Hit The Jackpot

Ben Simmons is set to become far and away the highest paid Australian sports star this year, potentially landing contracts worth an amazing $35m a year before he's even played a professional game.
The 19-year-old from Melbourne currently plays college basketball in America, but is widely expected to be the No.1 pick in the NBA draft in June and will suddenly become fabulously rich almost overnight.
Amazingly he will blow all other Aussie athletes out of the water in terms of income without even shooting a single hoop in the big league.
Ben Simmons, who currently plays for Louisiana State University, is set to hit the jackpot in June when he is widely expected to be the No.1 overall pick in the NBA draft
The 19-year-old is also poised to sign a huge deal with one of the big sportswear brands in America when he turns professional. Estimates from industry experts say it could be worth up to $135m over five years 
PROJECTED TOP TEN HIGHEST PAID AUSTRALIAN SPORTS STARS IN 2016  1. Ben Simmons (basketball) $34.5m per year

2. Andrew Bogut (basketball): $16m per year
3. Adam Scott (golf): $15.5m per year
4. Jason Day (golf): $10.65m per year
5.Tim Cahill (football): $5.5m per year
6. Grant Balfour (baseball): $5m per year
7. Patrick Mills (basketball): $4.5m per year
8. Dante Exum (basketball): $4.4m per year
9. David Warner (cricket): $3.5m per year
10: Steve Smith (cricket): $3.5m per year 
*All figures are estimates and include sports contracts, prize money and personal endorsements 
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Simmons is reportedly poised to be offered around $27m-a-year just to wear a particular brand of sneakers and will top that up with a playing deal worth another $7.5m per season.
That would mean the teenager would be earning more than DOUBLE the amount of fellow basketballer Andrew Bogut - the current richest Australian sportsman on approximately $16m a year.
And it would work out at more than $673,000 a week for Simmons... without even adding in any other lucrative endorsements.

Basketball legend LeBron James pocketed the equivalent of $121m when he signed a deal with Nike as an 18-year-old back in 2003 - a figure that hasn't yet been surpassed by a rookie.
But



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'It would be the new precedent because LeBron was the last and Simmons has the makings in the mind of the NBA that he could be a great, great player.
'So that's basically what they're saying, he's going to get a US$100m (AU$135m) deal. I would understand http://www.yunweishidai.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=2046129&do=profile&from=space that.'
Nike are believed to be desperate to land Simmons after losing the best player in the league, Stephen Curry, to rivals Under Armour back in 2013.
Simmons, who is a brilliant all-round player, has been touted to be picked first in the NBA draft by LA Lakers as they try to massively improve following a miserable 2015-16 season.
Under NBA rules, the young Australian can only sign a fixed-term rookie deal worth up to $7.5m for the first couple of seasons.
But after that, the young Aussie will be free to renegotiate the terms and if he takes the league by storm straight away his next contract could easily be as high as $18m a year.
Andrew Bogut, who plays basketball in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors, is currently the highest paid Australian sportsman - earning an estimated $16m per season in salary and personal endorsements
Simmons was born in Melbourne and played junior basketball there and also in Newcastle, where he lived between the age of one and 10 before returning to Victoria.
In 2013, he moved to Florida to attend Montverde Academy and only began playing for LSU in November 2015 during his freshman year there.
But by January 2016 he had been dubbed 'the best all-round player since LeBron James' by basketball superstar Magic Johnson after becoming the first player in 20 years to have at least 80 points, 70 rebounds and 30 assists in his first five college games.
And the Aussie teenager is now set to move quickly into the NBA and hit the cash jackpot.
Simmons has become a household name in America, even though he has not yet turned professional
 




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