The cost of falling in love with a Rookie of the Year contender...

Tyreke Evans, the rookie for the Kings, is by far and away the most talented (and productive) rookie this year.  His biggest problem is that he plays for Sacramento.  In case some of you didn't know, unless you're the Lakers, all teams on the West Coast just don't get that much love or air-play.  So maybe just take my word for it, this kid is good.

And I feel sorry for any fan of his that is setting out to make a collection out of his card offerings.  I was fortunate to have a man-crush on Nicolas Batum.  He's not a top ten pick, he's French and he's known for defense.  Batum's most expensive cards are his Exquisite rookie autos, and they can be had for around 60-80 bucks at this point.

Tyreke Evans fans will have it rough.  And it's too bad.  He's a fun player to watch and he's so easy to root for.  His basketball just looks liquid.  He's the kind of guy that makes it fun for fans.

But....he was picked 4th in the draft.  And he's the front runner Rookie of the Year pick. 

This is from Topps.  It was pulled from a pack of Topps' flagship.  It's a black chrome parallel numbered to 50.  It's for sale now for 150$.  I'm guessing it'll sell for slightly less than that.  But if you put Tyreke Evans into an ebay search, more often than not you're going to find cards that are out of your price range.

Sorry kids, maybe try making a run at some Ricky Rubio cards.  He's not even playing the NBA this year, so he might be a more affordable option.

I'll just go hug my blue chrome Batum rookies now.  I'm so glad I didn't dip into the rent to have to get them.