Player Focus: Nick Collison

Nick Collison, the former KU standout & draft lottery pick, had a rough start in the NBA, having to sit out his RC year due to shoulder surgery. In his 2nd & 3rd seasons, he was making his comeback, usually coming off the bench, averaging 5.6 ppg & 4.6 rpg and 7.5 ppg & 5.6 rpg, respectively. He started this season backing up Johan Petro at C (since Robert Swift was injured during the preseason), averaging just over 7 ppg & 6 rpg in 24 mpg. Then, Seattle management finally realized that he belonged in the starting line-up, and on 1/6 against the Warriors, he got his start. Since then, his production has taken off. From 1/6 to 1/26 (not including thier last game on 1/28 against the Clippers, because all of the starters were taken off the court earlier than usual due to them being down by 30 pts), he has averaged 17.5 ppg & 12.9 rpg in 36.9 mpg. His output has more than doubled. His confidence is finally back, and the team is behind him.

All of his RC cards have fallen since entering the NBA. There have been short spikes in demand here and there, but overall no upward movement. Now that he's starting, and will probably continue to start since Swift is out for the season, we can expect to see demand start to rise. He and Chris Wilcox have been putting up double-double stats almost every game recently. Combined with Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis & Earl Watson (or Luke Ridnour - both could be pretty good PGs), the Sonics have a chance to play some decent ball, and gain some hobby interest for their talented players. They've all been undervalued due to poor team performance, but Collison's cards have especially been stuck in limbo (Watson is fairly new to the team). Try to pick up some of his key Auto RCs while you can. I especially like his Bowman & Bowman Chrome autos (sigs are directly on the cards; no stickers that year). They can be found at very low % of BV prices. Be wary though, because KU fans are still big fans of Collison, so you'll be competing with them and Sonics fans for his cards, especially when they catch fire!