Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

20-21 Contenders:  Memphis is again a top team in the Western Conference.  Ja Morant isn't having his best season and has dealt with some injuries, but he's still one of the more athletic and dynamic players in the league.

Picked this pack up four years ago but never posted it.  It's so much fun sharing these and seeing where these players are today.  Kyrie and Harden are no longer with the Nets.  Irving went to the Mavs who were in the Finals last season.  Harden went to the 76ers before landing with the surprising Clippers.

RJ Barrett is on the Raptors now and playing really well.  Markkanen was traded to the Cavs and then to the Jazz where he's become one of the better players in the league.

DeAndre Ayton was traded to Portland but has underwhelmed there, or I guess just been himself.  Solid but not franchise changing.  Devin Booker is part of the big three in Phoenix, with KD and Bradley Beal, but for some reason they've struggled this season.

I really like these cards.  The design works even with the photos taking up so little real estate.  A great pull in this pack and lots of fun.

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
1 – Game Night
1 – Red Parallel
1 – 2020 Draft Class
1 – International Ticket
1 – Green Game Ticket Parallel

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

Contenders 20-21:  Today we'll look at another of these packs that I bought in 2021.  Trae Young, and my Hawks, are struggling this year.  His shooting is down and I think he's still getting used to new backcourt teammate Dejounte Murray who is having a good year but is also not quite there yet.  Still early so there is hope Atlanta can turn it around.

These small sets always offer up great pulls.  Almost always.  This one is a great one.  Dame and LeBron could easily headline this pack and there is more star power to com.  Portland has shown signs of life this year but are still inconsistent and may still be a player or two away from truly being a playoff team.  LeBron is having an amazing season at age 38 but injuries to Anthony Davis mean we don't truly know who LA is.

Avdija is playing doing pretty good for the Wizards and TJ Warren is getting quality minutes with Brooklyn now while RJ Hampton is coming off the bench for Orlando.

John Wall is doing well coming off the bench for the Clippers.  CJ McCollum is starring for the Pelicans who are surprisingly third in the Western Conference.  Collins is really struggling for the Hawks who are having buyer's remorse from the big contract they gave him two years ago.  As long as Joel Embiid can stay healthy, he should be the league MVP this year.  But don't count out Jokic.  The Nuggets and him have been surging of late.

BREAKDOWN:

22 – Total Cards

1 – Red Parallel

1 – Game Night

1 – 2020 Draft Class

1 – International Ticket

1 – Bronze Game Ticket Parallel

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

20-21 Contenders Basketball:  More from the fat pack lot I purchased last year.  This guy has been nothing short of special for the Dallas Mavericks.  He's only 22 and there are dreams of championships in Dallas if they can get a good supporting cast around him. 

KAT is excited to have a defensive presence in the lineup after the trade for Rudy Gobert.  The T-Wolves stunk it up on defense.  Should be fun to see how good they can be.  He is one of the best big men from long range and isn't talked about enough.  Two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic.  Crazy good and fun to watch.

Portland is hoping Nurkic can stay healthy.  They'll need him to be if they expect to make any kind of serious run.  Vassell had his best year averaging 12 points per game last season.

I like Buddy Hield.  He can flat out shoot it from deep.  He's in Indiana now and we'll see if he can take his game to the next level there.  Beal got a huge deal this off season from the Wizards.  Who is Ben Simmons?  A center?  There's rumors Brooklyn will try him there in kind of a Draymond Green type of way.  I'm not a fan of his but that has me intrigued especially if it works alongside KD and Kyrie.  I am a big Kawhi fan.  He's healthy and will start camp on time.  Hoping he can stay healthy all season and we can see what the Clippers are with him and Paul George.

  

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
2 – 2020 Draft Class
1 – Red Parallel
1 – International Ticket
1 – Green Game Ticket Parallel

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

20-21 Contenders Basketball:  We'll kick off this pack with all-time great Dallas Maverick and hall of famer  Dirk Nowitzki.  Fun looking back at how good he was and I loved that he brought an NBA championship to Dallas.  Especially doing it beating the Heat.

These packs always have fun pulls.  Jimmy Butler is a favorite of mine in the league today.  Donovan Mitchell may be on the way out of Utah.  I think he is very underrated which is easy to happen playing on the Jazz.

Embiid will get another shot with James Harden after he resigned.  I'm really curious to see how good those two can be together.  Say what you will about Harden but when he's invested and healthy he is great.  Oladipo resigned with the Heat this offseason.

Fun pack and good pull.  That short checklist helps to make sure of that.  Last but not least is Jayson Tatum who helped the Celtics get to the NBA Finals before being outmatched by the Warriors.

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
1 – Retired Great
1 – Red Parallel
1 – Game Night
1 – 2020 Draft Class
1 – Green Game Ticket Parallel

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

2020-2021 Contenders Basketball:  This is next in line from my pack lot buy of this brand last July.  And this guy, Jimmy Butler, and the Miami Heat beat my Atlanta Hawks up one side and down the other over the weekend.  Still this guy is a favorite of mine even though he has gotten rid of that signature hair.

You always get a good pull with Contenders and this pack was no different.  The Greek Freak and Klay Thompson had great starts to their playoffs this weekend.

After a trade in February Jalen Smith averaged 13 points per game for the Pacers.  Buddy Hield is now a Pacer and DeMar DeRozan has taken the best mid range game in the NBA to Chicago.  It was a tough weekend shooting for him but he was still one of the game's best this season.

Love Domantas Sabonis and wish he was a still a Pacer (not with the Kings).  Aaron Gordon is now a Nugget.  Steven Adams has been a great fit in Memphis though his points are way down he averaged a career high in rebounds (10.0 rpg).  And he still has great hair.

Sexton's season was cut short after only 11 games but is one of Cleveland's great young players that give them lots of hope for the future.  Chris Paul and the Suns are favored by many to win it all this year after falling to Milwaukee in the Finals in six games.

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
2- International Ticket
1 – Red Parallel
1 – 2020 Draft Class
1 – Bronze Game Ticket Parallel

Random Wax: Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball: I resorted to eBay last July to find me a box of 12 retail packs of Contenders basketball which I really like.  At ~$7 a pack I thought I did pretty good.  Been slowly showing off the packs and this one is up next.  Steph Curry is having another great year albeit not MVP worthy.  Still this 33 year-old, yeah 33, has helped the Warriors to a 40-13 record at the time I'm writing this.  He's always fun to watch and a great of the game.

I think KD is the best player in the game today.  He's gotta stay healthy but watching him on the court he's almost impossible to stop.  Somehow this guy has never been the MVP of the league.  

Wow how far Ben Simmons has fallen.  He and Philly are in a no win situation.  I'll be curious to see where James Harden is next year.  He is a free agent in a few months and Brooklyn just isn't that good.  Not saying he doesn't stick it out to see if things are better with everyone healthy but it could be fun to see how it plays out.

Maybe not my biggest pull of all my packs but there is so much star power in this smallish set that you almost never get cheated.

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
2 – 2020 Draft Class
1 – Red Parallel
1 – International Ticket
1 – Green Game Ticket Parallel

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball: Happy Thanksgiving!  Back to this favorite brand of mine and one of my favorite players in the NBA today.   The son of Arvydas Sabonis is his own man in today's game. He's a two-time all-star and averaging 18 PPG and 11 PPG while shooting 57% a game this season.

Another great pull which is to be expected with the small checklist.  Can't wait to see Klay Thompson get back on the court and you have to wonder how much better the best team in the league, the Golden State Warriors at 11-2, will be when he does.

I do like the Game Night inserts.

More great players and this was a really good pack.  I'll continue to show off these packs once a month until I get through the 12 I picked up in July. Have a great Turkey Day and hope everyone gets to enjoy a good food coma.

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
1 – Game Night
1 – Red Parallel
1 – 2020 Draft Class
1 – Green Game Ticket Parallel

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball: Pre-season basketball has started so I'm getting excited.  Today I show off another of these packs I grabbed in a lot on eBay earlier this year.  We'll kick it off with the Joker.  This guy is crazy good.  Love seeing big men prosper in the league.

As always these packs have a small base set so you're bound to get a good pull.  Glad to see Bradley Beal stay with the Wizards and I'm curious to see if Buddy Hield has an extra level to his game.  He has such a great three point shot.

Can Devin Booker and the Suns do it again?  The Western Conference is so stacked and you could put money down on more than a few teams there.  

A fun pack and another great pull.  I'll keep showing these packs off as the season progresses.  Plenty of great cards and players to show off like this cool Game Time insert.

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
1 – Red Parallel
1 – Game Time
1 – International Ticket
1 – Green Game Ticket Parallel

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

2020-2021 Contenders Basketball:  The NBA Summer League has ended but that doesn't mean I can't break out another one of these packs I bought last month. We'll kick it off with King James.  Dude had another great season at age 36.

Can Anthony Davis stay healthy?  Can Ja Morant continue to improve and find his stroke from deep?  Will the Hawks continue the momentum from last season when they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals?  

As a reminder the numbers on the card are the following:

Sec=Weight  Row=Height  Seat=Jersey Number

Carmelo Anthony has taken his talents to the Lakers.  If nothing else L.A. will be fun to watch after the addition of Russell Westbrook just to see how it works.  I don't get it but I don't make the big bucks to put teams together.  I like the Game Night inserts and pulling a Trae young makes the pull that much sweeter.  I enjoy Contenders and glad I picked up this lot of packs when I did.

BREAKDOWN:

22 – Total Cards
2 – International Ticket
1 – Game Night
1 – Red Parallel
1 – Bronze Game Ticket Parallel

2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

2020-2021 Contenders Basketball:  I've been resigned to not finding any Contenders Basketball, or basketball cards in general.  I'm a Contenders guy and when I found a lot of 12 packs on eBay for just over $7 a pack I was happy with that price even if that is more packs of a product than I'd normally buy.  Over the next year I'll show them all off.  What? The Suns are in the Finals?  The Suns could go up 3-0 tonight on the Bucks in the NBA Finals?  Devin Booker is one of the great players in the league?  Yes on all accounts.

The design is one I'm good with.  The space for the photos is a bit small though. Seems like the players are crammed into the space.  Not sure who thought that was a good idea.  Still I'm happy overall.  Ayton really is having a coming out party in the playoffs this year.

The backs are okay.  Plenty of color.  The veterans checklist is 100 cards so you can expect a pretty good pull in each pack.  I was hoping I'd grab some team sets from the 12 packs but the rookie cards are tough pulls.  As a reminder the numbers are the following:

Sec=Weight  Row=Height  Seat=Jersey Number

I'm hoping Milwaukee can stage a comeback in the NBA Finals but they'll need Jrue Holiday to be the player he was in the regular season and not the hot mess he was in games 1 and 2.  I'm really happy with cards and maybe even more happy to just bust some basketball cards.  Game Time inserts are a really nice looking insert.  Pulling a Doncic makes them even better.

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
2 – 2020 Draft Class
1 – Game Night
1 – Red Parallel
1 – Green Game Ticket Parallel