Three 2024 NBA Draft Breakout Stars: Cards to Buy Now

These players are only in their second year, but they're showing serious potential as solid investment pieces.

Feb 13, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Team Melo guard Reed Sheppard (15) of the Houston Rockets defends against Team Vince frontcourt Matas Buzelis (14) of the Chicago Bulls during an NBA All Star Rising Stars championship game at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Every single year, sports media tends to focus on two things more than others: how the veterans of the league are doing and which of the recently-drafted rookies show the most promise. A lot of players get overlooked in the process, especially those who are in their second year of professional ball.

With lots of talk being about either the Rookie of the Year race between Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel or the highly-anticipated 2026 draft class, it's time to put the NBA's best second-year players back on the spotlight.

Stephon Castle

Stephon Castle's Panini Prizm Base RC in a PSA 9 recently sold for only $20 | CardLadder

Being named the Rookie of the Year means you already broke out into the league on your first try, but still, it's impossible to not put Stephon Castle on this list. Averages of 16.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 6.8 APG as a starter on a contending San Antonio Spurs team are impossible to overlook in this day and age.

His card market is relatively affordable too, for someone who's already got the individual hardware to say that he's proven himself in the league. A PSA 9 copy of the reigning ROTY's 2024-25 Panini Prizm Base RC costs less than the price of grading, and while there are more desirable parallels out there to chase, ungraded and non-PSA 10 versions can still be considered affordable by a good chunk of collectors.

Matas Buzelis

Matas Buzelis' card market is still on the lower-end of the Hobby | CardLadder

Matas Buzelis is one of the best players on the Chicago Bulls lineup. When Josh Giddey is out, Buzelis turns into the team's pillar with consistent high-level play every night regardless of opponent. He is both a fan favorite and a statistically impressive athlete, with numbers of 15.4 PPG and 5.5 RPG.

Buzelis passes both the eye test and stats game, yet his card market doesn't reflect the kind of performances he's been putting out. RC parallels of the Bulls' top sophomore can be found in dollar boxes and cheaper listings online, with a PSA 10 of his Base RC from 2024-25 Panini Prizm going for less than $50.

Reed Sheppard

Reed Sheppard Rookie Autos are being sold for under $100 | CardLadder

Reed Sheppard has been a gem for the Houston Rockets over the last two years, and his stats from recent games prove just how much work he's put in. Sheppard has averages of 19.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 5.0 APG, 2.2 SPG, and 1.0 BPG over his last five games—the best stretch of his career so far.

Sheppard's card market has been overlooked more than his peers. $100 might only be good enough for a couple decent Castle parallels, but it's more than enough to buy you a graded Rookie Auto of the Rockets' future star.