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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s stock in the card market has taken a backseat lately. At some point during the past few years, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s franchise player was seen as a sleeper hit with a lot of potential, both on the court and in the hobby. While that can’t be denied, OKC’s decision to rebuild after reaching the postseason with Chris Paul has hurt SGA’s rookie cards.
This season, the Thunder guard has been awfully quiet. But after missing some time due to injury, Gilgeous-Alexander is back and he’s reminding us why he’s been a great draw for collectors.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and how he's flying below the radar
It's pretty hard to root for the Oklahoma City Thunder at this point of the season. They're currently 14th in the Western Conference with a 20-42 record, just a couple of games ahead of the last-place Houston Rockets. Among the 30 teams in the league, they're dead last in offense (103.2), points per game (102.1), and 27th in net rating (-6.7). Sure, OKC is languishing right at the bottom, but can the same be said of Gilgeous-Alexander?
Ever since he was traded to the Thunder, SGA has broken out and put up greater numbers than what he did during his rookie season with the Los Angeles Clippers. In just his second year in the league and the first one with OKC, the young star posted averages of 19 points on 34% shooting from deep, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. The following season saw him improve to 23.7 points on 41% efficiency from downtown, 4.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists after Chris Paul's departure to the Phoenix Suns.
With SGA being handed the keys to the franchise, almost everyone in the hobby expected him to take another leap last season to All-Star territory. Unfortunately, a foot injury just limited him to 35 games with the Thunder during that campaign. Nevertheless, that expectation quietly persisted among Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rookie card collectors in the hobby.
This season, it was more or less the same for SGA. The 23-year old guard was putting up fantastic numbers on a nightly basis but was finding it hard to push the Thunder out of the West's bottom tier. In this regard, the amount of talent surrounding Gilgeous-Alexander can be seen as culprits to OKC's woes. Even if that was the case, SGA himself stepped up on several games, including a thrilling win over the Los Angeles Lakers, to show what he's capable of.
Unfortunately, Gilgeous-Alexander will continue to flirt with various injuries from that point on. His most recent ankle injury kept the guard out until after the All-Star break. But since his return, SGA is looking like a man on a mission for the Thunder.
To put things in context, SGA was averaging 22.7 points on 27% efficiency from downtown, 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.1 steals before he went out with the said injury. In the five games since his return, the young guard is notching 33.5 points on 44% shooting from beyond the arc, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1.8 steals per contest. His improvement over the course of these games has resulted to a 2-2 run with wins over the Indiana Pacers and the Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets.
Of course, the biggest knock to SGA's stock in the card market is the Thunder's abysmal record. If he were on a contender, those Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rookie cards will surely be more valuable. Nevertheless, the talent in this fourth-year star can't be denied and he continues to be one of the hobby's underrated guys.
The state of Shai Gilgeos-Alexander rookie cards
For the most part, Gilgeous-Alexander's rookie stock hasn't made that much noise in the market this season. With constant injuries keeping him out of the lineup and rebuilding Thunder team, SGA's basketball cards are often an afterthought as compared to his contemporaries from the 2018 NBA Draft Class, Luka Doncic and Trae Young.
In a three-month graph from Card Ladder, Gilgeous-Alexander's PSA 10 base Prizm rookie card has been largely overlooked. In the short term, this stock has slightly gone down from $62 to $59 over 203 confirmed sales on eBay. This represents a small 5.6 drop during that period.
SGA's PSA 10 Prizm Silvers are, more or less, experiencing the same short-term downtrend. In another graph, the said graded rookie card has gone down from $490 to $451, or 7.96% drop during those three months. As compared to the base, this Silver parallel had 19 confirmed sales, according to Card Ladder.
With the data shown above, these Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rookie cards haven't dropped that hard when looking at them from a short-term perspective. At the same time, they also haven't caught fire on the market as well.
The verdict on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rookie cards
In a market that's already becoming too top-heavy with the big names, such as Ja Morant and Luka Doncic, there are several sleeper hits waiting for the right catalyst. One of these guys is no other than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his rookie cards.
First, the bad. For starters, SGA's value is being pulled down by the Thunder's record this season. It also doesn't help that he missed a lot of time during the past few months because of various injuries. These two factors affect his stock in a detrimental manner.
But while those details are valid, the upside to these Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rookie cards has the potential to be greater. His current price leaves a lot of room to grow in and the talent he has can be considered as an All-Star. The only thing missing is a definitive playoff series where he can shine and play for a winning team.
If these things happen down the road, SGA's present value will rise up. Until then, it's always a great idea to buy-low on high-potential guys, like Gilgeous-Alexander, for anyone's card collection or investment plans.
