Sports Card Targets - Top 5 Players To Buy Before NBA Playoffs
Panini owns the exclusive rights to NBA cards and within the Panini family Prizm and Optic are considered 1a and 1b while Select is considered to be the 3rd most popular set. If you’re looking for the ultra high end product then National Treasures is what you want to collect. Make sure you pay attention to the grading when looking at recommendations. Grading makes a huge difference in price, so price targets will be based on grading (PSA and BGS). An ungraded card is referred to as “raw”.
We’ll use SportsCardInvestor’s Price Movements list and Market Movers tools to evaluate our price targets. Be sure to subscribe using this link or the promo code GRINDERS for your 20% off your first payment with SCI.
Top 5 NBA Players’ Sports Cards To Target Before NBA Playoffs
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Here are the top 5 players to target before the hopeful start of NBA playoffs, and some accompanying current cards for sale on eBay through our eBay affiliate partnership:
5) Nikola Jokic – Typically big men are not the best investments as wing players and point guards are more popular to collectors. However, Jokic is not your typical big man. Current standings would have the Nuggets facing off with the Rockets. If this holds true then Jokic could be in for some big stat lines against the undersized run and gun Rockets. A few big games or triple doubles from Jokic and you could see a nice spike in his card prices. This would be a good point to sell for some nice short term profit because again, big men don’t seem to hold as much value long term. Check out this chart of Jokic’s 2015 Prizm base rookie card courtesy of SCI’s Market Movers tool.
The most recent sale of this card was for $100 but it sold for as high as $150 during the season. A solid performance from Jokic and you could likely sell for higher than the previous high of $150 given the explosion of sports card popularity over the last few months.
Cards to Target:
2015 Panini Prizm Nikola Jokic Rookie PSA 10- Under $125
Nikola Jokic National Treasures Rookie Autographs Nuggets #152 — Raw — Target under $500
2015-16 Select Nikola Jokic Base Rookie PSA 10 – Target under $55
4) Donovan Mitchell – Like many NBA cards as of late, Mitchell is on the rise. He was a first time all star this year and looks poised to be one of the stars of the NBA for the next decade. You can still pick up his base prizm rookie card for around $100 as you can see from the chart below. He’s an excellent long term hold at this price while also providing value as a short term flip if he plays well and the Jazz make it to the 2nd round.
Cards to Target:
2017-18 PANINI PRIZM DONOVAN MITCHELL ROOKIE RC CARD #117 GEM MINT PSA 10 Target Under $120
2017 National Treasures Donovan Mitchell ROOKIE RC PATCH AUTO /99 BGS 9.5 – Target Under $3500
2017 Donruss Optic Donovan Mitchell ROOKIE RC #188 PSA 10 GEM MINT – Target Under $50
3) Pascal Siakam – Like Mitchell above, Siakam was another first time all star this season. He started the season off with a monster 34 point, 18 rebound game and hasn’t looked back. He has all the tools of an elite wing and multiple all star games are in his future. The Raptors could very well make the Eastern Conference Finals again this year and if they do it will certainly be because of Siakam. The chart below shows both his Prizm base and Optic base cards. They are slightly higher than Mitchell right now but not by much. This is another great spot for a quick flip in the playoffs or if you believe in Siakam long term, it’s a great spot to buy now.
Cards to Target:
2016-17 PANINI PRIZM 220 PASCAL SIAKAM RC ROOKIE TORONTO RAPTORS PSA 10 GEM MINT– Target Under $150
2016/17 PASCAL SIAKAM DONRUSS OPTIC #171 RC ROOKIE RAPTORS SP PSA 10 GEM MINT– Target Under $80
2016-17 National Treasures Pascal Siakam 6 Raptors RPA RC Patch AUTO /49– RAW Target Under $400
2) Jayson Tatum – Tatum had a breakout season and is now looking like the superstar that the Celtics hoped he would become. Tatum is the future of the Celtics and has all the makings to be a top three player in the eastern conference, possibly the NBA, for years to come. Tatum would be a guy that I will want to hold onto long term for sure. A budding superstar on a marquee franchise poised to make multiple playoff runs during his career. He checks all the boxes.
Cards to Target:
2017-18 Panini Jayson Tatum #198 Donruss Optic Jason ROOKIE PSA 10 – Target Under $150
2017 Panini Prizm Jayson Tatum RC PSA 10– Target Under $270
1) Ja Morant – Ja Morant has had an amazing season and will likely win the Rookie of the Year award. The Grizzlies are also currently sitting in the 8th seed. If this holds true then that means the Grizzlies will be facing off against the Lakers in round 1. Now it’s extremely unlikely that the Grizzlies upset the Lakers but what if they win a game or two led by massive games by Ja. This matchup would most likely be the most watched 1st round series as well. More eyes means more interest in Ja, which also means his prices go up. Everyone that doesn’t have a Ja card is going to want a Ja card at that point. The chart below shows his base prizm PSA 10 and base optic PSA 10. Now those prices are fairly close together which doesn’t fit the same trend as players mentioned above. This is likely cause by a scarcity of PSA 10 optic cards on the market due to the current economic shut down. Once more Optic PSA 10’s come out then the gap will likely fall in line with others. With Optic potentially dropping in price in the short term or not and Prizm continues to rise at a faster rate. Regardless of that, I feel that Ja could be a great quick flip if he has a few good games against the Lakers in the 1st round.
Cards to Target:
2019 Panini Prizm 249 Ja Morant RC Rookie Base PSA 10 – Target Under $340
2019 PANINI DONRUSS OPTIC BASKETBALL JA MORANT #168 RATED ROOKIE PSA 10 – Target Under $200
NOTE 2019-20 NBA National Treasures has not released yet but it should be out in mid May.
Thanks guys and good luck with your buying! Remember to subscribe to SportsCardInvestor.com and the promo code GRINDERS for your 20% off your first payment with SCI.