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Written by @STEVEYGIII, NBA Top Shot, NFL All Day, UFC Strike and Candy MLB collector--
We’re back for week 2 of Catchin’ ‘n Collecin’ Fire, so that officially makes this a regular column now! If you missed last week’s Top 5, you can check it out here. The goal each week is to try to provide some fresh faces, so yes, some of the players from the previous week are still very intriguing players, but I really want to keep this with 5 new faces each week, unless someone goes on a nuclear run where they heat up much hotter than the week before. This week we see some more breakout stars from last year’s rookie crop, which is likely going to be a solid trend throughout this year as last year’s rookies emerge with more minutes and a year under their belt. However, before we get to the youth movement, let’s kick off this week’s list with a fresh face with a red hot Fresh Thread
5. Buddy Hield – Golden State Warriors: Hield feels like a perfect fit in Golden State right now. Hield always has had pure scorer potential, dating back to when he came back out of college. Right now he is average 22 points per game, but is shooting a rock solid 50% from 3 point range. The loss of Klay Thompson hasn’t been felt at all and arguably Hield is better right now than Klay would be after we saw some of his decline last year. The perfect storm hit this weekend as well, as part of the Steph Curry MSFE flash challenge required the Fresh Threads moment from the qualifying player with the most 3s, which Hield landed as the req for. Shooting up in a matter of days from $20 up to $75 I think I saw at one point, it consistently sold in the $40-$60 range for people chasing the Curry reward. Do I encourage picking that moment up above $20 now post challenge? Absolutely no way unless you love it and really want it. I do think Hield is a strong candidate for a cheaper rare pickup, of which he has a few on the platform. I think he is a strong pickup for Fast Break purposes at least as a common, with a nice cheaper TSD of a sick dunk from his Kings’ days. Don’t look at the sales history on that though as it used to run at a pretty higher value than today’s price 😊
4. Keyonte George – Utah Jazz: Our first of 2 rookies from last year’s class, Keyonte George is getting some run in Utah as a featured player and he is beginning to emerge. After dropping 33 points Monday night, George looks poised to potentially be the night in, night out scoring leader for the Utah Jazz along with Lauri Markkanen. If the Jazz end up dealing Markkanen at some point along the way, George stands to be the primary scoring threat for the Jazz and the face of the team. His Top Shot Debut has shot up from the $15 or so it was hanging around at the end of the off season up to a $27 floor with room to increase. George has potential to slide into the #3 spot behind Wemby and Chet from last year’s draft class, along with guys like Brandon Miller and Bilal Coulibaly coming up as well. I love the TSD for George with maybe a watch list on the rare if you love the upside.
3. Gradey Dick – Toronto Raptors: Shoutout to fellow CnC member Banana Banking Mac for her retirement fund coming to fruition with her unwavering bullish belief on Gradey Dick stacking last year paying off so far this season. Perhaps no one has capitalized more on opportunity than Dick this year with RJ Barrett missing a few games and now Scottie Barnes being out, opening the door for opportunity, which he has seized massively. Averaging 22 points a game and also becoming a threat on the defensive end with some solid multi-steal games, Dick is similar to a Bilal Coulibaly player so far this year with floors in a similar range (although as of this writing Dick is higher sitting around $15). I like the TSD for Dick, but am holding a little bit on going bigger until I see a little more of his output with the full Raptors squad going for a few games. The upside is there if he shows he can get his with the rest of the squad rolling.
2. Alex Sarr – Washington Wizards: Look, this is not a homer column, but the Wizards have some of the best young talent in the league who are intriguing buys right now. Sarr was heavily labeled as a project out of the draft, which don’t get me wrong, he is far from polished, but certainly appears farther along in the project development than most people thought he would be. He’s been a strong force on the boards, along with the defensive end of the floor. If he can steadily get to that double-double presence along with his defensive prowess and athleticism, he is going to be heavily in the Rookie of the Year discussion. I have Sarr in front of George and Dick, largely because of the upside, but also for the stacking potential and what further emergence could do for his floor prices. He was settled in around the $14-$16 range, but it seems like each night that floor gets pushed higher. If he starts to clearly emerge as a front runner, we could see a few more stackers for leaderboard position jockeying, along with Freshman Gem trade ins and air drops. This TSD is also very watchable with a sweet block and dunk combo (watch your moments people). DYOR and NFA, but I like the TSD upside on Sarr and plan to try to keep stacking here.
1. Anthony Davis – Los Angeles Lakers: AD has been the best player in the league so far this year and I do not know that it has been close. Every single night he is usable in Fast Break basically in any category they have run. He is putting up massive point and rebound totals on a Laker team that was winning. If you enjoy Fast Break and want to push for the top end rewards a rare is a must have (and AD has many good ones). You honestly could recommend that AD is the top player to go grab a legendary of right now and it would be tough to argue against. From a collector’s perspective, AD does not and has never gotten enough love. Hopefully, this emergence helps bring some awareness to his catalog. I’ve had his TSD on the wish list for awhile and also have enjoyed going back through some of his old catalog of the Cool Cats reward, rares and especially his S1 moments. He has a few cool bubble finals moments out there for people who love to collect that unforgettable period in time. If you’re a collector on Top Shot, take a few minutes this week and check out the AD catalog. You won’t regret it.
Until next time, watch more moments, tell more stories and we ride at dawn…
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