Trade Deadline Shakes Up One NBA Star’s Sports Card Market

The NBA’s trade deadline on Thursday provided some explosive storylines, though one of the biggest came from Kyrie Irving’s move to Dallas days prior. While not exactly a hobby favorite, the move has caused an uptick for Irving’s market, and he’s seeing strong sales and price growth across several key rookies.

Dive into the stats on Irving and other trending cards and players in this week’s NBA Market Movers update.

Cards listed below are PSA 10s with a minimum average of $30 and 10 sales over the last 30 days.

PRICE PERCENTAGE RISERS

1. Alperen Sengun 2021 Prizm Ice PSA 10 📈 162%

2. LaMelo Ball 2020 Select Concourse Blue Prizm PSA 10 📈 150%

3. Trae Young 2018 Status Rookies 2 PSA 10 📈 109%

4. Jamal Murray 2016 Optic Base PSA 10 📈 108%

5. Nic Claxton 2019 Prizm Silver PSA 10 📈 102%

MURRAY TRENDS UP: It’s easy to forget about Jamal Murray after the guard missed all of last season with an ACL injury, but he’s back with Denver and the Nuggets are looking like a serious title contender in the West.

Murray’s PSA 10 rookies tracked by Market Movers are up 28% collectively over the last month, and his key cards from Prizm and Optic are a major reason why. Despite showing strong price growth, it should be noted that Murray’s market isn’t typically heavily transacted, so it could be relatively fragile in the coming months.

With Nikola Jokic getting much of the spotlight amid a third straight MVP campaign, Murray’s market could take a dive with anything short of a title for the Nuggets.

PRICE PERCENTAGE DECLINERS

1. Ja Morant 2019 Donruss Base PSA 10 📉 49%

2. Cade Cunningham 2021 Optic Blue Velocity PSA 10 📉 46%

3. Collin Sexton 2018 Prizm Silver PSA 10 📉 44%

4. Luka Doncic 2018 Chronicles Base PSA 10 📉 41%

5. Donovan Mitchell 2017 Select Concourse PSA 10 📉 36%

MORANT DIP CONTINUES: An early contender for the MVP, Ja Morant has slowly fallen behind in that race, and his market has gone down with those hopes. Memphis is still a serious contender in the Western Conference, but Morant’s market may be closing in quickly on title-or-dip territory.

There’s a very real possibility that Morant has shown collectors and fans alike all they need to see in the regular season, and the next step is a deep playoff run. His PSA 10 rookies tracked by Market Movers are down nearly 7% over the last 30 days, and his key base rookies from Prizm, Optic, Mosaic and Donruss have all been major drivers.

While his 2019 Prizm Base PSA 10, 2019 Optic Base PSA 10 and 2019 Mosaic Base PSA 10 aren’t down massively in price percentage, they are all among his most transacted cards, which can of course still have a massive impact on his overall market.

DOLLAR AMOUNT RISERS

1. LeBron James 2003 Topps Base PSA 10 📈 $550

2. Nikola Jokic 2015 Prizm Base PSA 10 📈 $115

3. Kawhi Leonard 2012 Prizm Base PSA 10 📈 $80

4. Kyrie Irving 2012 Prizm Base PSA 10 📈 $78

5. Anthony Davis 2012 Prizm Base PSA 10 📈 $75

TRADE SHAKEUP: As many NBA fans expected, the Brooklyn Nets found a new home for Kyrie Irving before the trade deadline — this time a pairing with Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. It should be noted that Irving isn’t a terribly popular player in the sports card hobby, so it really has to be a move like this to generate the 36% collective increase on his PSA 10 rookie cards tracked by Market Movers over the last 30 days.

Irving is also part of the 2012 release for Prizm, which featured rookies from both 2011 and 2012 as Panini sorted out licensing rights to the NBA. Despite those classes having a major impact on the court, most of that group (Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler et al) hasn’t really gained massive hobby traction.

Irving’s 2012 Prizm Base PSA 10 has been a strong riser over the last 30 days, but don’t anticipate it going up much more once that new-team smell fades.

DOLLAR AMOUNT DECLINERS

1. Jalen Green 2021 Prizm Silver PSA 10 📉 $107

2. Zion Williamson 2019 Prizm Silver PSA 10 📉 $102

3. Stephen Curry 2009 Prestige Base PSA 10 📉 $100

4. Luka Doncic 2018 Prizm Red White Blue PSA 10 📉 $75

5. Cade Cunningham 2021 Optic Blue Velocity PSA 10 📉 $74

SALES VOLUME LEADERS

1. Ja Morant 2019 Prizm Base PSA 10 📈 180 sales

2. Luka Doncic 2018 Prizm Base PSA 10 📈 165 sales

3. Zion Williamson 2019 Prizm Base PSA 10 📈 164 sales

4. Luka Doncic 2018 Donruss Base PSA 10 📈 131 sales

5. Trae Young 2018 Prizm Base PSA 10 📈 101 sales

POPULAR SEALED WAX (HOBBY BOXES WITH MIN. 10 SALES OVER LAST 30 DAYS)

1. 2022 Hoops Basketball 📉 1%

2. 2021 Contenders Optic Basketball 📉 1%

3. 2021 Immaculate Basketball 📈 1%

4. 2021 Mosaic Basketball 📉 3%

5. 2022 Chronicles Draft Basketball 📈 21%

MARKET PULSE INDEXES OVER LAST 30 DAYS

Basketball 2018-2020: 📉 4%

• KEY RISER: Zion Williamson 2019 Select Concourse Silver PSA 10 📈 39%
• KEY DECLINER: Luka Doncic 2018 Prizm Mosaic Base PSA 10 📉 28%

Basketball 2010-2017: 📈📉 0%

• KEY RISER: Jamal Murray 2016 Prizm Silver PSA 10 📈 52%
• KEY DECLINER: Jayson Tatum 2017 Prizm Silver PSA 10 📉 22%

Basketball 2000-2009: 📈 7%

• KEY RISER: LeBron James 2003 Topps Base PSA 10 📈 26%
• KEY DECLINER: Kevin Durant 2007 Topp Chrome Base PSA 10 📉 16%

Basketball 1990-1999: 📈 3%

• KEY RISER: Kobe Bryant 1996 Topps Chrome Base PSA 9 📈 49%
• KEY DECLINER: Michael Jordan 1993 Fleer Ultra Scoring Kings PSA 9 📉 11%

Basketball 1980-1989: 📈 2%

• KEY RISER: Reggie Miller 1988 Fleer Base PSA 10 📈 30%
• KEY DECLINER: John Stockton 1988 Fleer Base PSA 10 📉 20%

Basketball 1979 & Older: 📉 14%

• KEY RISER: Bob Pettit 1957 Topps Base PSA 6 📈 62%
• KEY DECLINER: Jerry West 1961 Fleer In Action PSA 6 📉 25%

With the Sports Card Investor app, you can profit from the hobby you love by keeping up with trending cards, tracking real-time prices with Market Movers and buying items on eBay. Download the industry-leading app here for Apple or Android

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