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Written by @STEVEYGIII, NBA Top Shot, NFL All Day, UFC Strike and Candy MLB collector--
We’re back with week 4 of Catchin’ ‘n’ Collectin’ Fire with some real rapid ascensions this week. Injury often creates opportunities and this week is a great example of that. Whether it be for Fast Break opportunities or breakout, potential showcasing opportunities; the more minutes on the floor, we start to find out what players are capable of.
5. Dyson Daniels – Atlanta Hawks: Coming off of some silly consecutive games of 7-6-6-6 steals, Daniels has truly emerged in his third year. He is also filling up the stat sheet with 15ppg, 5 rpg and the ridiculous 3.4 steals per game. Daniels has made the most of his opportunities in Atlanta since being traded from a crowded Pelicans team (who probably would love to have him back at this point). Whether or not he can keep this up all season remains to be seen, but he is certainly a trendy pick for Fast Break. Personally, I like going with the quad bade TSD from Series 4 as the pickup. I am not splurging into a Rare yet, until we see some true Fast Break use on multiple days or elevating to the next level of building towards being a star player.
4. Dalton Knecht – Los Angeles Lakers: The rookie broke out in a massive way Tuesday night, dropping 37 points on some serious three pointer sharp shooting in the Lakers NBA Cup win. Knecht had some pre-season hype as well, albeit less than the other rookie who was debuting for the Lakers this year. Knecht is quietly averaging 11ppg this year, with 37-27-14-19 points in his last 4 games. A great example here as his minutes have doubled during those 4 games, he is rewarding the Lakers with filling in as legitimate scoring option, complimenting LBJ and AD. Similar to Daniels, we need to see if this can be sustained for the whole year before we get too crazy, but adding his TSD is probably better sooner rather than later. Depending on how you see the Lakers future shaking out, now could be a great buy low opportunity for Knecht as he figures to be in their long term plans if these flashes turn into the norm. The alternative is he fills the same role as an Austin Reaves, a strong role player getting some LA rub from the bright lights.
3. RJ Barrett – Toronto Raptors: Barrett has always been immensely talented, even dating back to his time in New York. This year he finally seems to be putting it all together, averaging 23-6-6 nightly, including a couple splash nights over 30 points, a triple double and being a legit all around player. On any given night, Barrett can exceed his stat averages in any category. He makes in for a great Fast Break filler on just about any given night he is live. Moving from New York to Toronto may have hurt his high profile visibility to some (no offense Raptors fans), but he still has all the tools to be a superstar in the league, even when Scottie Barnes is back. Barrett has a lot of great common moments, including one of my favorite playoff moments from S2 with a monster dunk. He also has some sweet dunks in the Rare category from his Rising Star to multiple Throwdowns, to complement several MGLEs. I think a rare pickup is viable as a collectible that you’ll enjoy, even if you’re a budding RJ fan on top of not being a bad pickup for Fast Break. I think the TSD is a watch list add at minimum and a solid pickup for the long haul.
2. Jared McCain – Philadelphia 76ers: Certainly the flavor of the week in this year’s rookie class, McCain has broken out in a big way with injuries to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Maximizing his minutes, he’s been a leading scorer for the 76ers at times, including a 34 point outburst. Hitting 4+ three pointers in 5 of his last 6 games, McCain has shown he is more than capable of living up to the draft hype. A polarizing player from his Tik Tok stardom, McCain seems to be a personality and player that is going to get attention. His Top Shot Debut has shot up from a few bucks to $14 at the floor as of this writing. I don’t know that I see the 76ers blowing the team up during the season, but if nothing else, McCain has earned significant minutes even when all of Embiid, PG13 and Maxey are healthy on the same night. A high draft pick showing his full potential is never a bad player to go grab the TSD of.
1. Franz Wagner – Orlando Magic: Interestingly enough, the player who is injured allowing this breakout, Paolo Banchero, was ranked #1 in the first edition of this column. Paolo’s injury has given Franz the spotlight in Orlando and he has shown he can deliver as a lead player on a team. Elevating his overall numbers this year to 23-5-5, he has emerged as a nightly scoring threat, often delivering 27+ points, including over 30 points in 3 of his last 4 games. He is absolutely playable on a few Fast Break nights, so you want at least a common to plug him in at times. If you believe in him when Paolo gets back, his rares don’t have the cheapest floors, but are manageable. Personally, I am taking a wait and see on Franz until Paolo gets back, but have firmly marked his quad badge TSD on my watch list, which is probably the first pickup I would jump into beyond the commons.
That’s it for week 4! Certainly more players this week geared towards collecting their rookies / quad badges as opposed to overall collectability as we have seen in some of the past weeks, outside of RJ Barrett, but most of this weeks hot players are on the newer side to the league, showing out. Enjoy the NBA Cup and until next time, watch more moments, tell more stories and we ride at dawn…
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