Trading Tuesday: Season 2 Moments
There are too many bargains in Season 2, so today, we'll be looking at five of the most memorable shots, dunks, and layups from the NBA in Season 2.
If you want to start flipping moments for higher-listed moments, Season 2 is where you should be looking.
For under $20, you can find game-winners from All-NBA players, career-high scoring moments for up-and-coming stars, moments from players no longer on the team they were on in that specific moment, moments that are now LE minted at 15,000, first Top Shot moments, moments from all-stars, and so much more.
Let’s not waste any more time and dive right into the best bargains for under $20!
Damian Lillard
For exactly $20, you can be able to get your hands on one of the most memorable game winners of the 2020-21 NBA season. It’s foolish for how low some of these Season 2 moments are listing for, and this moment is no exception.
Lillard is 6x all-star and is an MVP candidate this year, leading the Portland Trailblazers in scoring, notching 30 points per game for the second season in a row. This is no big deal for Lillard as he’s one of the best, if not the best, pure scorer in the league.
He’s known as one of the most clutch players in the league when the clock starts to wind down and has some of the most memorable game-winners in NBA history. You can ask any Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets fan about Lillard, and they’ll know exactly who and what play you’re talking about. Just click the links below and witness greatness:
Those plays will be engrained in Rockets and Thunder fans forever. I still get the chills watching both of those historic shots.
In this $20 moment on Top Shot, Lillard pulls off the impossible once again. With the Trailblazers winning a jump ball with seconds remaining on the clock, the team scrambled to find Lillard, and Lillard did the rest. With Lauri Markannen doing everything he could, outstretching his arms to contest Lillard’s fadeaway, it didn’t matter. Off-balance, Lillard sunk the game-winner with the clock hitting zero’s and saved the Trailblazers from a loss.
The Oakland native capped off a 44 point, five rebound, and nine assist game, and this shot is just another beauty. Get your hands on it soon, but do not forget, with more Pre-Order packs on the way, this lowest listing of $20 might continue to fall.
James Harden
Speaking of the most gifted scorers in the NBA, nobody can argue James Harden is a certified bucket. In any instance, Harden can either generate an offense with a pretty assist or do it himself with his patented step-back threes and ridiculous ability to get to the rim and the free-throw stripe.
In this moment (his first Brooklyn Nets moment since getting traded from the Rockets), Harden dances his way to the rim with a pretty euro step and floats in two against the Orlando Magic. With the Nets expected and favored to win the NBA championship this year - if Harden wins a ring - he will be a no-brainer Hall of Fame inductee once he retires.
Harden might be the best scorer in NBA history - and his former general manager, Daryl Morey (now the President for the Philadelphia 76ers), defended Harden in a podcast calling him the best scorer in NBA history. Yes. Even better than Michael Jordan.
Harden put up a triple-double tallying, 32 points, twelve rebounds, and 14 assists while pacing the Nets to a win. Scoop up this $18 moment soon, before it's too late.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recently had the keys to the offense turned to him at the start of this season after the Thunder offloaded Chris Paul for a haul of picks to the Phoenix Suns. And boy, has Gilgeous-Alexander been able to show off his skill set by creating for others and being able to separate from his defender off the dribble to drain big-time shots.
SGA is only 22, and in his third season is putting up averages of 24 points, five rebounds, and six assists on 40% shooting from three-point territory and 50% from the field.
Those are laughably impressive numbers considering there is not much around him, so he has to create and initiate the offense on his lonesome.
This moment unlike the two above - is already a limited edition moment capped at a mint count of 15,000. In it, Gilgeous-Alexander goes the length of the court before stopping on a dime and putting the dagger into the Charlotte Hornets heart, burying the game-winner with a long-distance two.
SGA is one of the league’s youngest and most promising stars, and soon he’ll get the recognition he deserves when the Thunder start to win games, but for now, he’s flying too far under the radar.
Jordan Clarkson
Jordan Clarkson isn’t a household name by any means because he comes off the bench, but he’s been a catalyst helping propel the Utah Jazz to first in the Western Conference with a 38-12 record.
Clarkson has pulled away as the favorite for 6th man of the year, leaving everyone behind him in the dust, and Vegas shows this with Clarkson's odds at -1000. This is only Clarksons second moment on Top Shot and his only Season 2 moment.
Bojan Bogdanović tosses up an airball driving to the rim, but Clarkson is right there to make the play almost look like it was drawn to be an alley-oop and flushes home the dunk. Clarkson is a flamethrower off the bench, and Utah needs every basket from him to keep hold of first place in the West and if they want to make a deep run in the playoffs.
At $15, any player winning an award at the end of the year, like the 6th man award, will boost their values and prices on Top Shot.
Christian Wood
Lastly, we have the Rockets cornerstone franchise player, Christian Wood.
Wood was the most slept on free agent in this year's free agency, and the Rockets got him at a steal, inking him to a three-year, $41 million contract. With Wood putting up averages of 21 points, ten rebounds, and a block a game at only 25 years old in the prime of his career, the Rockets got themselves a keeper.
Out of all these moments listed, this is easily the most intriguing to me. It's Woods' first and only moment in a Rockets uniform and features a dime of a pass from another player mentioned above, no longer on the Rockets, James Harden. Plus, the moment capped at 15,000 minted, so no more will be made or put in packs.
The fact that Harden drops off the pass to Wood is what excites me so much about this moment, considering Harden is a Rocket legend that even has his number retired (#13) by the Rockets already. Wood could be on the path to creating a new era in Rockets history, led by him as the prized possession with Kevin Porter Jr. potentially being his sidekick.
Wood is one of the most slept-on players in the NBA, similar to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander because both the Rockets and Thunder are not winning franchises right now. But, when they start winning, Wood will be the primary reason as to why.
Other notable moments:
Jimmy Butler’s jumper on Christmas, 2020 ($19)
Zach Lavine’s game-winner on January 5, 2021 ($18)
Dwight Howard’s dunk on January 7, 2021 ($15)
Domantas Sabonis’ dunk on December 26, 2020 ($13)
Jerami Grant’s dunk on December 29, 2021 ($11)
Mike Conley’s layup on January 1, 2021 ($11)
Joel Embiid’s jump shot on January 20, 2021 ($10)
Devin Booker’s game-winner three-pointer on February 1, 2021 ($9)
Fred VanVleets layup in a career-high 54 point night on February 2, 2021 ($7)
All views are my own.