These basketball cards are worth collecting within the 2020 NBA rookie class
The first product of the 2020 line of basketball cards — Panini’s Contenders: Draft Picks — was released in mid-October about a month before the newest class of rookies was set to be selected by their debut NBA teams.
The draft is always an exciting time for franchises to grab young players for their team that could very well make them competitors moving forward. For prospects, it’s the mark of what could be a very lucrative and exciting professional career.
And for basketball card collectors, it’s exciting to have new rookies to collect.
Last year’s rookie class might be tough to live up to. Zion Williamson pushed the rookie class out of the gate with tons of hype, and while we waited for his debut Ja Morant kept things rolling. Then, toward the end of the season, Tyler Herro showed that this class was ready to compete at the highest level, even in year one.
This year doesn’t have that hype from day one, but it may make for a more balanced and fun hobby season.
It’s tough to know exactly what this class can contribute right out of the gate, but card collectors will certainly be vying for some of these rookies in hopes that they have quick starts and quality careers.
2020 rookie cards worth collecting: LaMelo Ball
LaMelo Ball is the most obvious name to collect from this class. Thanks to his father and brother (LaVar and Lonzo, respectively), his presence was very well-known dating back to his high school days at Chino Hills.
Ball went overseas to complete his one-year outside of the NBA and played in the NBL for the Illawarra Hawks. As such, due to licensing, his first rookie card has no logo on it.
LaMelo Ball rookie card: Here’s what’s currently available on eBay
Being a well-known player, he’s going to be one of the most exciting pulls in products from 2020, and collectors will be hyping his card much like Zion was last year, regardless of his on-court performance or lack thereof out of the gate.
More conservative collectors might avoid Ball, but he’ll have a significant grip on the market share, no doubt.