Monday, May 20, 2019

Random Wax: 2018-2019 Contenders Basketball

The playoffs have not been kind to my Portland Trail Blazers who are on the brink of elimination at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.  I have watched a ton of NBA playoffs this year and it really has been fun to watch outside of this last Portland series.  That has put me on a NBA kick with cards so I grabbed another pack of the 2018-2019 Contenders basketball which is a brand I like.  My other team, the Atlanta Hawks grabbed Trae Young in a 2018 draft day trade with Dallas for Luka Doncic and draft picks.  Young started out slowly and I was worried this was going to blow up on them but he averaged 24.7 points per game and 9.2 assists after the all-star break shooting 44% overall and 34% from the arc.  Wow.  Atlanta has a budding star in this guy and I'm hoping with the 8th and 10th players in this year's draft this year they can do more to improve the team.
Fricking fracking Warriors! <simulated angry face emoji>
This set offers plenty of stars in each pack.  Khris Middleton and the Bucks look so good in the East.  Dirk Nowitzki played his final season this year.  Truly an all-time great and really changed how we look at big men in the sport.  Horford is a PC guy for me.  
Where Kemba Walker lands this off-season is huge.  He is a stud at point guard.  I hope he stays in Charlotte but it is so hard to say nowadays.  
J.J. Redick and Tobias Harris (traded to Philly) will be heavily regarded free agents in what will be a star studded 2019 NBA free agency period the likes of which the sport has probably never seen before.  We'll see how many players actually change teams but the names alone are enough to make any team or fan swoon.  Nikola Jokic (below) really had a coming out party during the playoffs this season.  For a big he has all the tools you want.  This was a fun pack and I'm sure I'll go back to it as opportunities allow. 
  BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
1 – Winning Tickets
1 – Hall of Fame Contenders
1 – Lottery Ticket
1 – Game Ticket Green Parallel

4 comments:

  1. I am not a huge basketball card collector, but those are some sweet looking cards. I like the Kevin Love and J.J. Redick cards. I have been a fan of Redick since his days at Duke and have a small player collection of his cards.

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    1. I'll put what Reddick cards I have to the side for yyou. These are fun cards for sure.

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  2. Panini should up the ante with that Lottery Ticket card and actually put scratchers into packs... where winning cards can be traded in for prizes.

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    1. I'd go for that. Seems like someone mentioned something like that has been done before. I'll see what I can find out.

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