Philadelphia sports is having a moment right now. The Phillies made it to the World Series. The Eagles are one of the best football teams in the league. The 76ers found themselves a budding star in Tyrese Maxey.
βI wish we had 12 more Tyrese Maxeys on this ball club,β said Sixers assistant Sam Casell. βThe kid works extremely hard. He takes my criticism. I think the skyβs the limit for the kid and if he continues to develop, heβll be fine.β
Maxey, who recently turned 22 years old, is having the best season of his young NBA tenure. He’s averaging career highs in a number of categories including points per game and total rebounds per game.
The 21st pick in the 2020 NBA Draft out of the University of Kentucky is certainly making the lottery pick teams wish they picked him.
Collectors saw the potential early on, he was one of the better selling rookies of the 2020-21 class. As he continues to become one of the league’s most talented players, prices have seen an uptick.
Here are five Maxey rookie cards to consider.
#5 – 2020-21 Panini Contenders – Rookie Ticket Swatches
Call me old fashioned, but Contenders rookie autos will always be some of my favorite cards. There’s a simplicity in the design from year to year and it will always hold its value if the player you collect becomes a success. Collectors typically don’t associate the Contenders brand with patch autos, but this very limited subset is popular addition. The only thing that could have made this subset any better is an on-card auto instead of a sticker.
#4 – 2020-21 Panini Prizm – White Sparkle
Every year, White Sparkle packs are some of the most coveted in the industry. In 2020-21, they were available through Panini’s store as an online exclusive three-card pack. The full 300-card base set had White Sparkle parallels in 2020-21, so pulling Maxey, or anyone you are chasing, is quite the feat. They don’t come cheap, but these cards are extremely exclusive. If you’re serious about expanding your Maxey collection, the Prizm White Sparkle rookie is one to target.
#3 – 2020-21 Panini Flawless – Vertical Patch Autographs
One of Panini’s higher end releases every year, this rookie Vertical Patch Auto subset from Flawless is one of Maxey’s best cards. As you’ll see with a card later on in this list, it’s not my favorite rookie patch auto of Maxey you can buy, but it certainly cracks the list. Similar to its National Treasures counterpart, the patch is smaller, but the foil around the patch adds some extra shine to the card that you may prefer over the National Treasures rookie patch auto. There are also some lower priced standard Maxey autos in Flawless.
#2 – 2020-21 Panini Spectra – Color Blast
The Color Blast insert is one of the rarest that Panini offers across any of its brands. It’s highly sought after, and mixes a clean white background with a blast of various colors. For those of you looking for some variety in your Maxey collection, and to not bog it down with only patch autos, the Color Blast insert adds some brightness to it. Expect to pay at least a few thousand for a nice one but they’re out there.
#1 – 2020-21 National Treasures – Rookie Patch Autograph
It’s hard to beat the true rookie patch autograph out of National Treasures when it comes to the holy grail cards of collecting. Maxey was a redemption for a lot of National Treasures subsets during his rookie season, and the redemptions from that set expire in February of 2023. So, if you’re thinking of picking one of these cards up, or pressing your luck in group breaks with the 76ers spot, now is the time.
Or, you can just take the plunge on one that’s already been pulled.
You can check out a live list of the most watched Tyrese Maxey rookie card auctions on eBay below and see all of them for sale and auction here.
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