Sonny Vaccaro -- a LEGEND in the shoe brand industry -- says he'd offer Zion Williamson a $100 MILLION endorsement deal ... telling TMZ Sports the Duke star deserves more than what LeBron got out of high school.
"There are particular, singular athletes that can move the needle," Sonny says ... "Zion Williamson has moved the needle before he even became a professional."
Of course, LBJ currently holds the record for biggest shoe brand contract ever given to an NBA prospect ... scoring a $90 million deal from Nike before he took the court for the Cavaliers in 2003.
Sonny -- who helped broker the first-ever Michael Jordan-Nike deal back in the day -- says he'd have no problems eclipsing that LBJ number for Zion.
"Zion Williamson is known to 14-, 15-, 13-, 60-, 70-, 80-year-old people because of his brilliance, his charismatic presence. That's why he's different."
Seems a lot of people agree ... when we got former Blue Devils star Jay Williams out in NYC over a month ago -- he said a 9-figure contract for Z wouldn't surprise him.
Now the only question seems to be ... which shoe brand is Zion going to accept all that cash from?!