Evan Mobley quickly proved that he can perform in the NBA, and there’s no shortage of demand for his rookie cards in the basketball card hobby.
Mobley’s most expensive, and in my opinion his best, rookie card is his 2021-22 Panini National Treasures Rookie Patch Autograph card; I’ve covered that, and his other top rookies further down.
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways: Top Picks
Before I go into more detail on the best Evan Mobley rookies, here’s a quick look at my top 3 picks:
The Best Evan Mobley Rookie Cards
Panini released a wide range of options for Mobley rookie cards, and collectors have choice for all budgets, with varying rarity and appeal.
Here are the best Mobley rookie card options:
2021-22 Panini Prizm Evan Mobley #325
The parallel-heavy Panini Prizm set is a go-to for collectors looking for rookie cards.
Prizm is one of the biggest NBA releases of the year – The chromium cards are popular in the basketball card hobby, and the 2021-22 Prizm Evan Mobley rookie card is one of his best and most popular options.
In terms of value, the base card is an entry-level option for collectors. However, the Prizm sets have become known for the high number of parallels, with varying scarcity. The variety of parallels, which add color, offers different price-entry points for all budgets, which is something I love about Prizm.
The lowest-numbered parallels are among Evan Mobley’s most expensive rookie cards; A copy of the Gold Prizm parallel (/10) sold for $14.4k in 2022.
2021-22 Panini Donruss Rated Rookie Evan Mobley #225
Panini Donruss is another highly sought-after NBA yearly release. It’s best known by most collectors for its Rated Rookie line.
Evan Mobley features as one of the standout first-year names as a Rated Rookie in the 2021-22 set – It’s another popular rookie card of his, and the base card is on the lower end of the value scale, as it can be picked up easily.
Like Prizm, there’s also numerous parallels which add layers of rarity, color and value.
2021-22 Panini Court Kings Evan Mobley #88
Reminiscent of the Diamond Kings baseball card brand, the Panini Court Kings cards offer an artistic style option with their design.
Rookie players, like Evan Mobley, have 4 different base cards in the 2021-22 Panini Court Kings set, starting with the most common ‘Rookies 1’ card (pictured above), which is considered to be the rookie card. The other cards include ‘Rookies 2’ and ‘Rookies 3’, with the rarest being the ‘Rookies 4’ card – All 4 cards have a different design.
There are no parallels to the 4 base cards in this set, which is a bit of a negative.
2021-22 Panini NBA Hoops Evan Mobley #234
The 2021-22 Panini Hoops set has significance because it offered the earliest rookie cards featuring the first-year players in their NBA uniforms.
So it was the first release of Evan Mobley in a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform, Which potentially gives it a little extra value compared to some of his other similar rookies.
Its design features a distinctive looking Hoops border and style, and there are numerous parallel options for this Evan Mobley rookie card.
2021-22 Panini Crown Royale Kaboom! Evan Mobley #23
Kaboom! cards have become a very popular insert in the basketball card hobby – They’re often hard to get hold of and valuable.
This Evan Mobley Kaboom rookie card is from the Panini Crown Royale set and is one of his most popular and valuable unsigned rookie cards.
The bold, comic book style design resonates well with collectors – It’s a nice option for those looking for a higher end Evan Mobley rookie.
A PSA 10 graded copy of this one sold for as high as $2.35k in 2023.
2021-22 Panini Revolution Evan Mobley #143
Next on our list is the 2021-22 Panini Revolution Evan Mobley rookie card. Revolution as a set was more centered around limited parallels, instead of big hits.
The style of the card has a bit of a throwback feel to it, and it really stands out with the contrast of colors and the foiled background, to make for a bold looking card.
As I mentioned just now, the set was more focussed towards limited parallels, this card has numerous options with alternative foil patterns.
The Best Evan Mobley Autographed Rookie Cards
2021-22 Panini Origins Evan Mobley Autograph #RA-MOB
This Panini Origins Evan Mobley rookie card has similarities to the Court Kings cards, with a colorful and artistic approach to the design.
The big appeal to this card, which makes it a premium option, is the on-card signature.
It comes with numbered parallels, which are highly limited, and even more valuable than the base signature card.
2021-22 Panini Donruss Rated Rookie Signatures Evan Mobley #225
I’ve already spoken about the highly popular base Donruss Rated Rookie Evan Mobley rookie card, and this is a more premium version, for collectors with a bigger budget.
The card has added appeal and value from the base card, because of the autograph, which has the slight downside of being a sticker, instead of a hard-signed autograph – But it’s an appealing feature nevertheless.
2021-22 Panini Contenders Rookie Ticket Evan Mobley Autograph #103
The 2021-22 Panini Contenders set includes some of the most sought-after Evan Mobley rookie cards, and this Rookie Ticket auto card has big appeal – It’s one of Mobley’s most popular rookie cards.
I personally think this is one of his top rookie card picks.
The ticket style card has become popular among collectors, and the addition of the hard-signed autograph really adds to the value.
It comes with some rare parallel options, which add color and higher price tags compared to the base version.
Identifiable by the white ‘V’ on the back of the card, there’s also an image variation version of the base card, which also has its own parallels.
2021-22 Panini National Treasures Rookie Evan Mobley Patch Autograph #147
For me, this 20221-22 National Treasures RPA card is Evan Mobley’s best rookie card, and it’s also his most expensive to buy.
National Treasures is never far from the top of the list of premium sports card brands.
It ticks all the boxes for collectors, with the high-quality finish to the card, the hard-signed signature, jersey patch and limited print run of just 99 copies.
It does also come with a few limited parallels, which hold even more value; A copy of the Gold parallel (/10) sold for $19.2k, in 2022.
When Was Evan Mobley’s Rookie Season?
Evan Mobley’s rookie season was the 2021-22 season – In the 2021 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted him as the 3rd overall pick.
Evan Mobley: A Background
After a successful college basketball career with the USC Trojans, Evan Mobley came to the NBA with a lot of expectation after being selected as the 3rd overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The giant power forward delivered in his rookie NBA season, after being a big part of the resurgent Cavaliers side during the 2021-22 season.
While he just missed out on the NBA Rookie of the Year award to the Raptors’ Scottie Barnes, he did finish above players like Cade Cunnigham and Jalen Green and earned his place in the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
What Is The Most Valuable Evan Mobley Rookie?
The most expensive Evan Mobley rookie card to buy is his 2021-22 Panini National Treasures Rookie Patch Autograph card, which is limited to only 99 copies, and a few lower-numbered parallel versions.
A copy of the base card has sold for as high as $8.7k before, while a copy of the Gold parallel sold for $19.2k, in 2022, graded PSA 9.
