6 Best Cheap Basketball Shoes in 2025

Even though we’re huge fans of LeBron (who isn’t, really), we don’t give any of his shoes any special treatment. We analyze budget and non-budget hoopers alike, and among the first group, we can confidently say the Witness 8 is the best overall.

This newest iteration is a symbol of improvement, yet it keeps its affordable price. It features a wonderful Air Unit at the heel, which is something we don’t usually see on cheaper pairs. During our wear tests, we felt it pushed us back up after every move, and we verified it in our lab: it scored a solid 59% at the heel and 60.3% at the forefoot on our energy return test. So we felt more than ready to go for layups, rebounds, crossover steps and many other quick moves.

But that’s not the only premium-like detail it features. Our grip test in the lab confirmed the safety we felt when we played with this Nike pair, as it scored a fantastic 0,74. Which is crazy high for a budget shoe! The brand also improved the overall durability, as the Witness 8 scored a 4/5 on both our heel padding and toebox Dremel tests. These numbers are higher than average, which means that it can compete with pricier hoopers!

Even though the overall foot containment has improved, we can’t say this is the most stable shoe we’ve tried. If you need some extra stability/have had ankle issues of any type, we believe it’s best for you to stay away from the Witness 8.

If we hadn’t looked at its price, we wouldn’t have guessed this was a budget shoe. The Anthony Edwards 1 Low left us in awe with its wonderful performance on our lab and wear tests. Among all its advantages, there was one that shone a little bit brighter, and that’s why it’s our cheap hooper with the best shock absorption.

Our muscles and joints felt safe after every landing, and even if we fought against bigger pivots to get the rebound, we never felt unprotected. We took this Adidas pair to our lab, and our shock absorption test confirmed our experience after returning 105 SA at the rearfoot, surpassing the average, and 70 SA at the forefoot. The setup, which features a thicker Boost unit at the heel, offers a great mix of impact protection (heel) and ground feel (ball of the foot). We got the best of both worlds!

To make us feel even safer, the Anthony Edwards 1 Low also offers elite-level traction. With a brutal score of 0.85 on our grip test, it reaches the standards of the most expensive hoopers of the market. We felt incredibly safe with this hooper on, and this was also thanks to its solid structure. With a fantastic 5/5 on both our torsional rigidity and heel counter stiffness tests, our feet stayed right where they should be.

Nevertheless, all this protection comes with a price: a higher weight. At 15.8 oz/447g, this Adidas shoe is way heavier than average (13.8 oz/391g).

We played a lot of games and performed a lot of tests in our lab on the Giannis Immortality 4 before giving it the crown as the hooper with the best versatility among the cheap basketball shoes we have reviewed so far.

It has a positionless design that makes it an ideal pick for pretty much any player and position. We would have never said a way wider-than-average midsole in the forefoot (at some crazy 124.5 mm, which offered us wonderful stability for our landings), would come on such a lightweight structure. It felt quick on foot, but we didn’t believe it until our scale returned 12.56 oz/356g!

Apart from feeling nimble and stable, this hooper’s solid structure offered us a wonderful lockdown feel. Its overall torsional rigidity and heel counter stiffness earned a well-deserved 5/5 on our tests, which is the highest score. So, apart from being stable, quick, and supportive, these Nikes are also durable, as their heel padding managed to get a perfect score (another 5/5) on our Dremel test.

What an all-rounder! The only drawback here is that the snug structure of this hooper is not ideal for basketball lovers with wide feet.

There are so many affordable shoes that seem to have a superpower, and the Precision 7 is one of them. After thoroughly testing it during our games and in the lab, we have concluded it’s the cheap hooper with the best traction that has come into our hands.

When we went for quick crossover steps, risky layups or backdoor cuts, we felt pretty safe. For such a cheap shoe, this Nike pair impressed us with great traction. In fact, it scored a solid 0.70 on our grip test! But the surefootness we enjoyed doesn’t only come from this. In fact, our caliper confirmed it when it returned 120.2/90.3 mm as soon as we measured its midsole’s width. Taking stability to a whole new level, the Precision 7 is all about safety!

And you most likely know what happens when us hoopers feel safe: we go for risky moves. That’s why Nike decided to add a full-length EVA midsole and a small midfoot shank to add some extra stability and energy return. When we measured this last detail in our lab, our machine returned 58.5 % at the heel and an impressive 61.3 % at the forefoot, matching the springiness of other more expensive hoopers. During our games, this translated into a dynamic and snappy ride.

Nevertheless, as a budget model, hoopers shouldn’t expect any crazy Nike technologies. If that’s what you’re looking for, you should try something else.

Out of all the cheap shoes that we played in, it’s the Adidas Harden Stepback 3 that we consider the best for outdoors simply because of its insanely durable outsole. We also appreciated its torsional rigidity and compatibility with wide feet.

We did the Dremel test on the outsole and we were so amazed with the results. Our high-pressure Dremel drilling resulted only in 0.2 mm of damage, which is far lower than the 1.1 mm average. This simply means that the sole is a lot more able to resist abrasion.

As far as twist resistance is concerned, the Harden Stepback 3 is perfect! We didn’t have to worry about foot twists let or even instability because of how firm the base of the shoe felt. After giving it a good twist in the lab, we were left with no other choice but give it a 5 over 5.

These Harden basketball shoes are surely a treat for wide-footers because of how spacious the forefoot area of the footbed is. Our caliper measured it to be 107.0 mm wide when the average is only 101.0 mm.

When it comes to breathability, however, there’s still a lot of room for improvement. After conducting smoke and light tests in the lab, we could only give the Adidas Harden Stepback 3 a 2 out of 5.

We had a lot of candidates for the throne of the cheap basketball shoe with the best value, but after a lot of lab and wear tests, we’ve decided that the Nike Air Max Impact 4 is the one to wear the crown.

One of the first things we noticed when we wore this hooper during our playtests was its consistent traction. Its multi-directional pattern offered us great grip even if the court was dusty. In order to support the more aggressive moves that are born from the confidence inspired by the grip, the Air Max Impact 4 features a supportive structure that earned a 4/5 on our torsional rigidity test. The cherry on top for its containment is the semi-gusseted tongue, which is a detail we usually don’t see on cheaper shoes.

But that’s not all! As the basketball shoe with the best value, the Impact 4 boasts a solid design: it earned a fair 3/5f on our breathability test, which is already higher than average. The thing is that it also managed to score a 3/5 on our toebox durability test! These details are usually incompatible, so we were left in awe.

Underfoot, we enjoyed a wonderful Air Max unit right at the heel. Once again, this is something pretty uncommon in an affordable shoe, and we love it! Nevertheless, don’t expect this Nike to be comfortable out of the box: you’ll need to overcome its break-in period!