6 Best Cheap Basketball Shoes in 2025

How we test cheap basketball shoes

Our mantra for our shoe reviews is honesty over freebies. This means that we buy all the basketball shoes on our own, with no sponsorships or brand ambassadors.

We test the shoes in two ways: wear testing and lab testing. We play in all the shoes for a substantial amount of time before reporting our likes and dislikes. We take them both indoors and outdoors to get a proper feel of them on different surfaces.

After that, we summarize our thoughts about our experiences, and then we proceed with more data-seeking inside our lab. We measure different aspects, such as shock absorption, durability, weight, and flexibility. We also tear the shoes apart, giving us an absolute view of every little detail.

How to save on a pair of basketball shoes

When we say “cheap,” we imply basketball shoes that are priced at $110 or less. Be it their original MSRP or a discounted price.

Getting a cheap shoe doesn’t necessarily mean that it feels cheap or breaks down after a month of use. There are a few ways in which you can save money and still get a great bang for the buck:

• Look for previous season versions
• Consider signature takedown shoes
• Watch out for debut signature shoes
• Consider budget entry-level shoes
• Keep an eye on sales and discounts

Discounted previous season shoes

Marketing campaigns for the newest basketball shoe releases always picture them as huge step-ups and game changers over the previous iterations. But that’s not always true.

Sometimes brands end up messing with an already excellent shoe just to shake things up. Other times, the newer version turns out to be great but only because it inherited the materials and technologies that worked well in the previous version.

In fact, too many players are scouring eBay in search of that perfect hoop shoe that they bought 5 years ago and that is no longer released. Simply because they loved the traction, cushioning, support, or fit that those shoes provided, which they couldn’t find in any of the newer releases.

At RunRepeat, we keep every edition of the basketball shoes we’ve tested, even if they have very few offers left. You can find models that date back to 2022 on our basketball shoe catalog page.

TIP: Sort the catalog page by Discount to find out which past editions are offered with the biggest discount. We’ve seen the price of some flagship modes drop by as much as 75%!

Signature takedown basketball shoes

Premium signature shoes like Nike LeBron, Air Jordan, and Adidas Harden, can be quite expensive with a retail price ranging from $150 to $210 per pair.

Luckily, some famous athletes have also released takedown signature shoes to broaden their market reach and make these shoes more accessible to everyone. That way, younger entry-level athletes, recreational players, and people on a tight budget can afford a shoe that associates with their favorite player.

Here are a few examples of these more affordable signature shoes:

TIP: Keep an eye on the most recent partnerships between brands and athletes because the first iterations of these new signature shoes tend to be cheaper as well. For example, Adidas AE (Anthony Edwards) and Nike Ja (Ja Morant) shoes were both released with a moderate price tag of $110.

Affordable entry-level basketball shoes

Every basketball shoe brand has a catalog of budget-friendly options that cater to beginner and recreational players. The retail price of these shoes starts as low as $70.

Even though these shoes lack the high-end materials and technologies of the more expensive models, they generally tick all the boxes of functional hoop shoes. In our lab, we test every basketball shoe equally, no matter the price point. And sometimes cheaper shoes really impress us with their performance.

We keep track of the best budget basketball shoes to showcase them in this guide.

Sales and discounts: when are basketball shoes the cheapest

Great deals aren’t only limited to Black Friday.

There are many other times of the year when basketball shoe sales are on the rise:

• Late winter and early spring mark the end of basketball season. This is when brands try to sell out older iterations and create space for the newer releases.
• Simultaneously, retailers hold clearance sales to make room for the more in-season inventory.
• You can also catch a sale upon releasing a new model in a basketball shoe line. The price of the one that the new release replaces will surely be brought down to entice buyers to at least consider buying it.
• Sales are also expected at the beginning of a basketball season in late summer and early fall with the so-called back-to-school sales.

Always compare prices before buying shoes

We are all familiar with that feeling of regret and disappointment when we see a lower price tag on something we just bought for more.

If only there was a way to monitor prices from dozens of shoe stores...But wait, that’s what RunRepeat is here for!

We aggregate prices for every single basketball shoe from over 200 online sellers. With all the retailers and prices listed in one place, you can see where your favorite shoe in your size and color is sold the cheapest.

You also have the option to set a price alert and we will send you an email as soon as we detect a cheaper price for that shoe anywhere on the internet.

Are cheaper hoop shoes less durable?

Testing shoe durability every day in our lab, we’ve come to the conclusion that the shoe’s price and its durability are not proportional.

Using a Dremel with a sandpaper tip, we drill each shoe’s toebox, heel padding, and rubber outsole for a set amount of time with consistent speed and pressure. Then each shoe part gets a durability score from 1 to 5 based on the severity of damage.

For the outsole, we list the exact depth of the dent measured with a tread gauge. The deeper the dent, the poorer the abrasion resistance.

The table below shows each shoe’s durability scores along with their retail prices (MSRP). You can see that the most expensive basketball shoes aren’t necessarily the most durable ones: