jason mezrahi 
Part 1 of the Collector’s Corner: NBA 2020-21 Preview takes a look at some of the products available right now — and what’s on the way for 2021.
Last year’s NBA season, when it began, had a much different feel than this time around, but one thing remains the same – the league is filled with talented players whose card are sought after by collectors.
The historically gifted crop of rookies from 2019-20 are now one year more mature, and many have already handled the high pressure of the bubble and the NBA playoffs – which were on display for the world to see.
Prices for NBA products – especially the very popular Panini Prizm and Mosaic releases – hit record highs on the secondary market because of Zion Williamson and Ja Morant. They arrived as almost MORE than rookies, and there were a handful of players much farther along in their development than any in the 2020 Draft.
In this Collector’s Corner: NBA 2020-21 Preview column (Part 1 is a product review), we’ll preview some of the basketball products on the way for 2020. Part 2 will go over some of the players to target as they take the stage on the most marketable of courts in the NBA. I’ve included links to Cardboard Connection’s product details and set checklists. I’d also recommend checking out my intro to the Collector’s Corner column.
Products available now
2020-21 Panini Contenders Draft Picks
This collegiate release includes all the big-name draftees from 2020, including top picks Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman and LaMelo Ball. There’s also cards featuring veteran NBA players and legends like Jerry West and Magic Johnson – all in their college uniforms.
It’s more of a low-end product and base (standard non-insert/non-auto cards) aren’t worth a whole lot. Some collectors prefer NBA stars in their pro unis and the prices reflect that, but it’s an early-issue product that looks great and offers some standard and short print variations in the autos and “game ticket” and “prospect ticket” parallels.
The “pulls” are the Campus ID and low-numbered auto parallels. If you pull one of these and would like to show us at Collector’s Corner, post a pic in our #trading-cards Discord channel!
Biggest sales (to date)
$3,300 (Nov. 8, eBay) LaMelo Ball Gold Vinyl Premium Prizm Auto 1/1 Rookie – RAW (est. NM-MT)
$3,000 (Nov. 19, eBay) Obi Toppin Gold Vinyl Premium Prizm Auto 1/1 Rookie – RAW (est. MT)
Best buys
The hobby boxes are affordable ($180-220) and offer six autographs per box (one in each pack), while the 1st Off the Line (FOTL) boxes offer an exclusive autograph parallel in each box. The new retail blaster format (a cheap way to get in the game at just $20 – which elevates to the $25-40 range on the secondary market) has just one autograph per box.
2020-21 Panini Prizm Draft Picks
The first basketball product of 2020 on chromium stock, Panini’s Prizm Draft Picks release is the current chromium stock cream of the crop for this year’s rookies, not to be surpassed until the NBA Prizm release in early March.
Unlike the NFL’s Prizm Draft Picks releases, the basketball release is draft picks and prospects only – no NBA veterans. This makes for a repetitious checklist that features a two variations in the standard base set for each player, along with the Crusade and Global Prospects cards.
There are plots of great autos, and like Contenders Draft, the hobby boxes have one auto in very pack – it’s just five packs with eight cards per pack.
The biggest pulls are the super-short printed Color Blast inserts (SSPs are sometimes referred to as “chase” cards) which feature 10 different players, and the “Downtown” SSPs of 20 different players, which actually include four current NBA players: Zion Williamson, Tyler Herro, Rui Hachimura and Ja Morant.
Biggest sales (to date)
$14,999 (Dec. 18, eBay) Anthony Edwards Prizm Black Auto 1/1 Rookie – RAW (est. MT)
$8,000 (Nov. 19, eBay) Deni Avdija Color Blast Rookie SSP – Raw (est. MT+)
These prices are a LOT more speculative than the 1/1 Contenders autos, and the Avdija card is selling closer to $800-$1,100, not $8K.
Best buys
Again, the hobby boxes are affordable at around $240-270, with FOTL boxes coming in around $350-500. Blasters can still be found on retail shelves for $20, and mega boxes (12 packs) are easy to find in the $35-$50 range without a huge secondary markup.
Collector’s Corner advocates picking up the FOTL if you can afford it — just because of the frequency of bigger hits. If you can’t afford an FOTL box, you can buy into group or team breaks. These are available in half and full cases that offer a shot at some of those monster pulls.
Upcoming releases
Hoops – January 13, 2021: Don’t sleep on Hoops, which remains a low-end flagship for Panini and includes lots of interesting subsets.
Certified – January 20, 2021: Lots of great autos and low numbered stuff in here, but it can get expensive — especially the FOTL boxes direct from Panini.
Donruss – January 27, 2021: These showcase the popular “Rated Rookie” cards of 1st year NBA players, and auto’s aren’t all that rare.
Revolution – February 10, 2021: Not a ton of hits, but usually affordable for a hobby release. I’m not really into it, but some of the artwork is okay.
Absolute – February 24, 2021: Short-printed “Glass” cards and cool inserts, but pricey. Still a ways off.
Prizm – March 3, 2021: The high-end NBA flagship and go to product for lasting value. The Silver Prizm cards are the rookies to get.
Origins – March 10, 2021: A gorgeous set with colorful artwork, Origins is expensive and risky — with usually only about eight cards in the one-pack box.
Contenders – March 24, 2021: Super popular and featuring on-card rookie autos, Comtenders and the high-end Contenders Optic have some monster pulls.
Crown Royale – March 31, 2021: Die-cuts aren’t my cup of tea, but they have the cool-looking Kaboom cards. Check out some of the previous iterations for a preview.
