Which Trae Young Rookie Cards Should You Be Buying? Learn About His Top 9

Trae Young has become a hot commodity since leading the Atlanta Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.  Many collectors are looking to get into the Trae Young market as they see his play getting better and better every series it seems like.  They may be a bit unfamiliar with some of his more popular base rookie cards.  That’s what today’s video is all about where we talk about 9 of those cards and give you all the information you need to know about them to make an informed buying and collecting decision.

I am not recommending these cards, nor do I own any of them.  I am simply hoping to educate.  Some cards you won’t see on this list are some of his more expensive ones such as Flawless.  Most people can’t afford those so I don’t cover them.  The cards I am going to cover today are all his base rookie cards, no parallels.

On a side note, since Trae, outside of winning an NBA championship, is probably at his highest popularity right now, you may want to wait until the off season to purchase some of these cards to get the best deals.  A good chunk of them if not all are down from their highest price points ever.  A good tool to use to help determine what the average, highest and lowest price points have been for cards is Market Movers.  You have heard me talk about them on the show a few times.  That is Sports Card Investor’s software program to track card prices and your collection.  There is a discount code for 20% off any of their memberships in the video description.  Only purchase if you plan on using it and it fits into your budget.

Most of these cards on this list I would not consider to be “investment” type pieces, but nice cards to have in one’s collection or sell as quick flips.  Now that we got all that out of the way let’s jump into his top 9 base rookie cards in no particular order.

#9 2018 Prizm Card #78

This is the card you would consider his 1 true rookie card.  Yes, he has other ones as I will discuss shortly, but this is the card that has been the most produced and graded. 

Honestly, one of my least favorite cards on this list, but I have to mention it because it is his true rookie.  Just not a very colorful card, although it does have a nice action image of Trae.

This card over the past year has been all over the map price wise.  According to Market Movers it had a high of $930, with an average sales price of $466.  Currently, as of the making of this video it sits at $340, which was the cheapest I could find for sale on eBay.

Why has this card’s pricing been so volatile?  Currently there are 9,641 PSA 10s that have been graded.  That’s a lot.  With more being graded each day.  Base cards tend to be more volatile because of that.

I don’t necessarily see this card as an “investment” type piece.  Quick flips to help you make a few bucks for sure.  But, if you are a Trae Young collector, you need to have this in your collection since it is his true rookie card.

#8 2018 Panini Hoops Card #250

One of his more affordable rookie cards.  Cheapest I could find on this card right now was for $120 as a PSA 10.

A decent design with the lime green background.  I do like the red border that matches the jersey color.

Over the last year this card has averaged $120, right where it current asking price is.  PSA 10 pop of 2,177.

Hoops is not an unknown brand, but certainly not ranked as high by many collectors who would rather have Prizm or Select.

But, it does usually have color matching cards and are very affordable.  Always a brand to look at if you are on a budget.

#7 2018 Panini Prizm Mosaic Card #93

I’ve always loved the Mosaic brand.  Just like the design of it and generally the price point of them.  It is just a solid image of Trae.  For such a low pop of just 241 as a PSA 10, this card has averaged $414 over the past year.  Cheapest I could find was $400 on eBay.

Also, I believe 2019 was the 1^st year that Mosaic was a stand alone product, were generally an insert in previous years.  2018 which this card is from would be the last year of Mosaic as an insert.  I doubt many of these will be getting graded so the pop report should stay relatively low.

#6 2018 Panini Donruss Optic Card #198

Like Mosaic, I have been a big fan of Optic.  Designs just work for me.  Cool image of Trae, digging the color match to the uniform.

Decently high pop of this one at 1,754.  Average sales price over the last year at $233.   Cheapest I could find was for $200 right now.

Just a solid budget card to get into.  Don’t see this being so much of an investment type card, but a good looking card and brand.  18% of the Prizm base PSA 10 population as well.

#5 2018 Panini Donruss Card #198

Same card as above, just not the Optic brand.  I know, super confusing right.  This is where I think it gets ridiculous with cards.  Using the same image just in a different brand.  Would have been nice to have a different photo.

Just a cheap card.  Personally, I would rather have the Optic. 

PSA 10 pop of 3,259 so a ton of these out there.  Almost double of Optic.  Average sales price of $146 over the last year.  Cheapest I could find this card at was $140.  For an extra $60 you could get the Optic.  I think that is a better deal than the Donruss.

#4 2018 Panini Revolution Card #150

I am seeing a theme here, love the Revolution brand too.  Cheap, quality looking cards.  Nice futuristic look to them.  Good color match.

This one has a PSA 10 pop of only 349.  Average sales price over the last year of $177.  Cheapest I can see is $175 right now.

That is such an affordable price for a PSA 10 of his.

Now let’s move onto the Select brand cards, which there are 3 different ones, the Concourse, Premier, and Courtside with the Courtside having the lowest print run, followed by Premier, then Concourse.

#3 2018 Panini Select Card #45 (Concourse Version)

Good image of Trae, Select in my opinion usually does a pretty good job on the images.  Select also has lower print runs it seems like than other sets.  Typically, harder to find.

Design of card is nothing special.

Current PSA 10 pop of only 981 with an average sales price of $289 over the past year.  Cheapest I could find is $240 right now, a very nice price on this card.

#2 2018 Panini Select Card #142 (Premier Level)

While not a die cut card, the angles of the corners of the card sort of give it that appearance.  Not a fan of die cut cards at all, so not digging this design so much, although I don’t mind it.

PSA 10 pop of just 351 with an average sales price of $323 over the last year.  Cheapest I could find was $287.

Again, not really an investment type piece, most base cards of newer guys typically aren’t, but at under $300 with a pop of under 400, just a nice card to get into if you can’t afford the next card.

#1 2018 Panini Select Card #249 (Courtside Version)

Of all the cards on this list, if you were to consider 1 card as an “investment” type piece this would be the one. 

Very low print run.  PSA 10 pop of just 125.  Average sales price over the last year of $1,557.  Cheapest I could find was for $1,100.  $720 is the lowest this card got to on June 16.

The Courtside designs are usually very solid.  Always a good action shot and I do dig the overall design.  Again, it is just a base card, but the print run on these is very low.  If you were to find these at a great price and you loved the card this would be one I would consider adding to your collection as an “investment” type piece.  Just not going to be a ton of these getting graded a PSA 10.