NBA 2K23 has brought big changes to the Token Market and how players earn the base versions of current-day stars in MyTeam. This year, every Series 1 player card is available to purchase in the Token Market. That makes it a bit less confusing on which players you should be taking in the early days, but there are still a few players that stand out. It’s important to keep in mind that you’ll be using Series 1 players to help build out your Trophy Case, so you might want to target specific teams with your Tokens if that’s something you want to do quickly. That said, here are the best Token Rewards players who can easily slot into your lineup over the first few weeks of the season.
Related: NBA 2K23: How to earn all MyTeam Trophy Case reward cards
Which Token Rewards players should you get in NBA 2K23 MyTeam?
Depending on which free cards you’ve earned through different packs and the Season Pass, you’ll need to fill different holes in your roster. Therefore, we’ll break the Token Rewards players down by position to give you a few options at each slot.
Best Token Rewards Point Guards
The best option here is 90 OVR Steph Curry. You could go pick up one of his Limitless options if you have some spare MT, but this version of Curry that you can grab for 30 Tokens is good enough. He’s one of the few players at the start of the game that can truly three hunt on the perimeter, making him a great option for offline and online play.
Outside of Curry, we got on well with the 87 OVR versions of Trae Young and Damian Lillard. Both will cost you 20 Tokens, which seems like a fair price for the step-down you’re getting in terms of three-point shooting from Curry. Another option is 84 OVR Darius Garland from the Cavs. He’s only 15 Tokens, making him a solid budget option for offline play.
Best Token Rewards Shooting Guards
There aren’t as good of options here, which means you might want to spend some MT on a top-budget player instead. If you want to spend Tokens, you could go with someone like 90 OVR Luka Doncic (30 Tokens). His shot isn’t as broken as it was in NBA 2K22, but he’s still a decent option for the position.
Someone like 84 OVR Zach LaVine (15 Tokens) might be a decent option if you just need a slasher. Personally, we didn’t love James Harden’s (30 Tokens) or Devin Booker’s (20 Tokens) shots enough to recommend them, but you might get on better with them than we did.
Best Token Rewards Small Forwards
For our money, the best option at SF is Kawhi Leonard (20 Tokens). The 89 OVR card is a lockdown defender on the perimeter that you can build your defense around. Granted, he’s not going to give you much on the offensive side of the ball, but you can fill that hole with other players.
Some players might prefer 90 OVR Lebron James (30 Tokens) as a slashing playmaker, but you’re taking a hit on defense and shooting that we just don’t love at this stage of the game. Yes, Kawhi isn’t going to hit many threes, but if he’s wide open, he has a better chance than Lebron. We could also recommend Paul George, but he’ll cost the same as Kawhi, so you might as well get his teammate.
Best Token Rewards Power Forwards
There’s really only one guy you want here and it’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (30 Tokens). The former MVP is perfect for the position and one of our early must-haves if you can’t afford Limitless Scottie Barnes. His ability to perform in the pick-and-roll is among the best in the early days of the game and he brings a ton of defensive versatility as well.
Besides Giannis, you could go with someone like Kevin Durant (30 Tokens), though we wouldn’t recommend it. In fact, we’d instead go with a budget option in P.J. Tucker (2 Tokens). The 74 OVR card isn’t the best, but his shot is incredibly easy to green. If you can get the timing down, he’s a solid option for drive-and-kick action.
Best Token Rewards Centers
This is probably the slightest position in terms of Series 1 cards. Sure, you could get 90 OVR Joel Embiid (30 Tokens), but you get an 88 OVR version of him from Starter cards, which we’d stick with instead. We’ve targeted players who have a bit of speed at the position because you’re really just looking for a guy that can move on defense and gives you another pick-and-roll option.
None of these options are great, but we’d recommend Anthony Davis (30 Tokens) and Karl-Anthony Towns (15 Tokens). Both have 70+ Speed and good enough ball skills to do the business on offense. We wouldn’t recommend him online because he’s only 6’6″, but we actually had some fun using Zion Williamson (15 Tokens) because of his 81 Speed at the position in Domination games.
