Chet Holmgren's Prizm Silver is cheap enough to buy through his knee injury

The Oklahoma City Thunder said Friday that Chet Holmgren will miss eight to 10 weeks with a small tear of the patellar tendon in his right knee, which he first felt in the Oct. 25 game against the Clippers. His 2022 Panini Prizm Silver #266 already sold for about $155 in PSA 10 before the news, less than Jalen Williams' Silver from their 2022 draft, even though Oklahoma City took Holmgren second and Williams 12th.

In PSA 10 Silver, the top of that draft runs Paolo Banchero, the first pick, at about $300, Williams at about $220 and Holmgren at about $155. Holmgren's Silver sold for about the same a year ago.

Holmgren has been hurt before. He missed his first NBA season with a Lisfranc injury, then fractured his hip against the Warriors on Nov. 10, 2024, with the same eight-to-10-week timeline he got Friday. He came back on Feb. 7, about 13 weeks later, then started at center for the team that won the 2025 title.

Holmgren's base #266 in PSA 10 is the $31 way into the Thunder's rookies. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's plain 2018 Prizm base rookie in PSA 10 sells for about $250, more than the Silver of the center who protects his rim. Gilgeous-Alexander's own Silver PSA 10 brought $2,500 on Oct. 29. A collector building the title team in Silver can get the starting center for less than Williams or Gilgeous-Alexander.

The hip is the case against buying, since he came back three weeks past the timeline he was given. But the hip found his Silver at more than $300, while this knee finds it already cheap.

I'd buy a Silver PSA 10 at $150 or a little under while he's out. Even if this recovery runs as long as the hip did, he'd be back by late January with the stretch run and the playoffs still ahead. Once he's back, I'd rather own the cheap Thunder Silver than have paid $220 for Williams'.