LeBron James and Stephen Curry don’t need a momentum boost within the sports card world. A robust, lucrative market continues to run strong and will remain intact for a long time to come. But who will be the next big NBA player with unflinching trading card hobby staying power to emerge?
Victor Wembanyama was a popular pick, but his injury has put the brakes on his rapid ascent.
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During playoff time last year, the hobby latched on to the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards.
His most recognizable rookie card — 2020 Panini Prizm #258 — in the popular Silver parallel with a gem mint PSA 10 grade sold on average for $597 via Market Movers, which tracks card sales across multiple marketplaces, as of April 15, 2024. A monster run during last year’s playoffs by Ant-Man during which searched for his name on eBay shot up 1,850 percent compared to the start of the season launched this card into orbit with average sales on May 9 up to around $1,840.
One week later, Edwards’ cards drastically dipped in value to average sales of $1,120. The Silver rarely reached or topped that daily average ever since. In fact, we’re right back where we started with Edwards. His 2020 Prizm Silver in a PSA 10 is even lower than where it sold one year ago before his sharp uptick. This card sold for $561 on Monday.
So again, a hungry sector of the industry will watch this year’s NBA Playoffs salivating for the next undeniable superstar.
Let’s take a glimpse at a selection of players who could be in line for a playoff bump if results go their way:
The Oklahoma City Thunder guard could be hoisting his first regular season NBA MVP award after this season, and his card market is responding accordingly.
SGA’s 2018 Prizm Silver rookie card in a PSA 10 went from an $831 average price on Feb. 9 to a $1,550 average on March 13, a 107 percent increase. The price has fluctuated since then, but stood with a $1,180 average price as of April 13.
It certainly appears expectations for Gilgeous-Alexander are reaching fever pitch with his market building up to this point for the last few years.
What will it take for SGA to maintain this height? Or build even further on this? Probably an NBA Finals appearance and a title, respectively. After all, the Thunder enter the postseason as the oddmakers’ favorite to capture the crown.
Los Angeles’ next cornerstone superstar represents the closest candidate to eventually enter James and Curry territory.
This started well before the forward’s seismic trade from the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers a couple of months ago. Moving across the country to the NBA card hobby’s version of the New York Yankees should only accelerate his market. Still, Dončić’s rookie cards received an NBA Finals bump about a year ago.
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His 2018 Prizm Silver parallel in a PSA 10 built average sales of $1,120 on May 21 last year. The Mavs’ trip to the finals against the Boston Celtics propelled the card’s sales as high as $2,060 on June 1. The loss to Boston probably didn’t aid in maintaining prices close to the peak, however, with sales falling as low as $991 three weeks later.
Then came the Lakers’ bump for Dončić. The card jumped to as high as a $1,770 average price on Feb. 3, leveling off to a $1,410 average price as of Monday. It would be hard to imagine a massive dropoff for the forward if the Lakers flounder in the playoffs since it’s clear he’s the next face of the franchise, though. An increase up to last year’s peak and even higher wouldn’t be a shock if Los Angeles navigated its way to this year’s finals.
Apologies to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell and the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum. An Antetokounmpo-led Milwaukee Bucks playoff resurgence in the Eastern Conference could re-energize a once flourishing card market for the Greek Freak.
Sales for Antetokounmpo’s 2013 Prizm Silver in a PSA 10 will always be far less frequent given the card’s small PSA population count of just 88. For perspective, Dončić’s version has a pop count of 2,375. That’s also why the price for the Bucks star’s cards will be much higher.
The last sale for Antetokounmpo’s version went for $6,370 on March 25. That’s down 26.7 percent from a year ago. And in February 2022, the two average sales for the card were $34,700. The card’s current value is at its lowest point since 2019.
Given the Bucks rank fifth to win the Eastern Conference via BetMGM at +6000, the likelihood of an NBA Finals run probably seems slim. But maybe any sort of playoff heroics could provide a shot of adrenaline into his card market.
This feels like a potential Ant-Man 2.0 situation.
The 2021 No. 1 pick will make his NBA Playoff debut when the Detroit Pistons challenge the New York Knicks in the first round. Cunningham is in the midst of the best season of his career, and the Knicks feel vulnerable.
In mid-November, his 2021 Prizm Silver in a PSA 10 averaged only $203. The price popped as high as $660 in early March and now averages $561. That’s right along where Edwards’ version landed last year at this point.
Any sharp upward turn could be sudden and the staying power might be quick like Edwards last year since this Pistons group carries no playoff history at all. The addition of Cunningham and the Pistons into the playoff picture has at least brought a budding star player into the conversation.
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(Top photo: William Purnell/Getty Images)
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