Random Wax: 2019-2020 Donruss Basketball

 2019-2020 Donruss Basketball:  This one has been hanging around for some time and is appropriate as NBA teams are back in camp getting ready for this upcoming season.  I really enjoyed last season and all the ball we got to watch in the bubble.  Don't want to ever see a bubble again if we don't have to but man that was fun.  Trae Young and my Hawks are looking like playoff contenders this season after making some really good moves this offseason.  Can't wait to see what they look like.  Trae Young is soooo good.  His numbers may go down this year but it'll be great to see what he and Atlanta can do with a real supporting cast around him.

Plenty of good looking guards.  Devin Booker had a great finish to the season in the bubble.  Kemba Walker is going into this year hurt but he was a really good pickup for the Celtics.

Al Horford is now the star of the Oklahoma City Thunder after they traded for him while trading away anyone not nailed down.  I really like Horford but Philly was a bad idea from the get go.  I feel so bad for Klay Thompson.  Coming back from one injury he tears his Achilles heel last month.  I'm rooting for him to be successful in his comeback next year.

Paschall and Washington both had strong rookie seasons for their respective teams.  

These three cards work well together.  Really hoping Aaron Gordon can have a really good year and/or get traded to a team where he can excel.  This was a fun pack with plenty of star power. Sabonis is another of my favorite players in the league.  His season ended too early due to injury but should be ready for 2020-2021.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

5 – Rated Rookie

1 – Complete Players

1 – Franchise Features

1 – Great Expectations

Random Wax: 2019-2020 Donruss Basketball

 2019-2020 Donruss Basketball:  NBA Conference Championships are underway with Denver-L.A. tipping off game one of their series tonight.  No I didn't mug someone for these cards.  This pack has been sitting in the queue for quite a while.  LeBron is a great start to this pack though somewhere inside me I'm rooting for Denver in their series.

James Harden is out of the playoffs and with no coach.  Andrew Wiggins probably can't wait for next season which will be his first full season with the team which should be fully healthy.

Parallels and inserts are are always fun.  My parallel includes a Hawk while it will be great to see what Kevin Durant can do in Brooklyn which is already a good team.  The Joker!  Dude has been great in the playoffs and is fun to watch. I really hope Denver makes the Western Conference Finals a good series but the Lakers will probably have none of it.  

Thunder had a great year considering they lost Paul George.  And they still have a ton of LA Clipper 1st round draft picks moving forward.  

Five Rated Rookies in this pack.  These young guys are hoping they'll be in the playoffs soon.  I'm so enjoying the NBA right now and bummed I can't just go pick up basketball card packs at the store.  This one was fun and luckily I still have basketball cards to share as we continue the quest to crown a champ.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

5 – Rated Rookie

1 – Changing Stripes

1 – Complete Players

1 – Green Holo Parallel

Random Wax: 2019-2020 Donruss Basketball Hanger Box

2019-2020 Donruss Basketball:  Back when there was actually new basketball product left on the shelves I had picked this up.  These boxes have 50 cards.  No Zion here but I do have one of his Donruss cards from a previous pack.  Can't wait to see young stud Trae Young of my Hawks back on the court.  A first-time all-star this year he gives fans and the franchise hope for the future.

There are also green flood parallels in these boxes.  The green works great with Irving in a Celtics uni though he is actually on the Nets right now.

I kind of like the Changing Stripes inserts showing players in both their old and current unis after changing teams.  So will Russell's card next year show him in three different unis since he's already been traded to the Timberwolves?

Thirteen rookies were in this box of 50 cards.  That's a better percentage than the two fat packs I've opened where there were five rookies in a 30 card pack.

This was a good box.  If I'd known how many rookies were found in these I definitely would have grabbed more of these when they were first available.

BREAKDOWN:

50 – Total Cards
13 – Rated Rookie
3 – Green Flood Parallels
2 – Franchise Features
1 – Complete Players
1 – Changing Stripes

Random Wax: 2019-2020 Donruss Basketball

2019-2020 Donruss Basketball:  Not sure who watched any of the NBA2K Player's Tournament this weekend but it was fun.  It doesn't equate quite as well as the iRacing NASCAR does weekly but I do like hearing the players talk.  They aren't on the court and are talking only to the other player so conversations can be all over the place but it is fun.  Some players talk more that others so it can be quite a bit different game to game.  Kevin Durant was pretty talkative but was ousted in the first round.  Back to this pack and Zion Williamson.  Always a win this year when you can pull this dude.

Lots of yellow...and lots of excellent players.  Can't wait to see these guys on the court again assuming we might.  I've heard they've considered quarantining all 16 playoff teams in Las Vegas and playing in empty arenas.  I could get behind that.  Everyone involved would be quarantined and checked.  Not saying this should start tomorrow but after some time it could be doable.   

That Jae Crowder is a green holo parallel.  The Great X-Pectations insert doesn't do it for me.  Seems like the colors could be a bit better.  It has an 80's vibe but I'm not feeling it.  Nice Embiid card.  

 Plenty more star power in this pack and we finish this pack off with Kevin Durant.  Brooklyn will be even more fun to watch with him on the court next season.  Basketball cards are a hard find nowadays but if I come across any of these I'd definitely pick up more given the opportunity

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards
5 – Rated Rookie
1 – Franchise Features
1 – Great X-Pectations
1 – Green Holo Parallel

2019-2020 Donruss Basketball

2019-2020 Donruss Basketball:  This is my first pack of Donruss basketball.  I like the design.  It isn't spectacular but solid.  This Giannis where he sports a cool alternate jersey leads us off.  I don't think I'd be down with Milwaukee sporting these every night but still a nice change of pace.

  A solid pull in this pack.  This set is smaller (250) than Hoops (300) but is still good size.  I know positions in the NBA are somewhat fluid nowadays but I'd still like to see them on the fronts of these cards.

Not a bad looking Fantasy Stars insert.  Plenty of color and I'm digging it.  That Montrezl Harrell is a Green Holo parallel.  Miles Bridges seemed like an odd choice for a Franchise Features insert but when you looked at the Hornets' roster before the season it was pretty slim pickings.

The backs stink but Panini doesn't put much, if any, effort into them.  Good pack and good design.  This was fun and I'll pick up more as the season progresses.  Maybe I can find a Zion.

BREAKDOWN:

30 - Total Cards

5 - Rated Rookie

1 - Fantasy Stars

1 - Franchise Features

1 - Green Holo Parallel