Ja Morant’s rookie cards were hot property in the basketball card hobby from the start of his pro career.
If budget isn’t restricted, I would say the best Morant rookie card is his 2019-20 Panini National Treasures RPA card, but there’s great alternatives for all budgets; I’ve covered all the top picks further down.
With over 30 different base rookies, there’s a good variety of first-year Ja Morant cards for collectors as well, from entry-level options to high-end premium products, as well as varying card designs.
Table of Contents
Quick Summary: Top Picks
For low budget: 2019-20 Panini Prizm #249
For lower-mid budget: 2019-20 Panini Contenders Autograph #118
For upper-mid budget: 2019-20 Panini Crown Royale Kaboom #10
For high budget: 2019-20 Panini National Treasures Rookie Patch Autograph #118
The Best Ja Morant Rookie Cards
2019-20 Donruss Optic Rated Rookie Ja Morant #168
A slightly more premium and valuable version of the Ja Morant standard Rated Rookie card, the 2019-20 Donruss Optic Rated Rookie – It adds optichrome to the already popular Rated Rookie design.
The base card is a nice option for collectors, but there’s also more scarce, numbered parallels, which hold more value.
2019-20 Panini Prizm Ja Morant #249
Ja Morant’s Prizm rookie card is a very popular one, as you’d probably expect. The 2019-20 Panini Prizm is the ‘go-to’ optichrome NBA card option for the masses again, like earlier years, with its range of parallels.
There’s also an image variation version, showing a different image of Morant holding the ball above his head, out in front of him.
Something that I love about the Prizm brand is the variety of parallel options, with different scarcity levels, and that gives price points for most budgets.
The scarcest parallel versions are among Morant’s most expensive basketball cards ever, like the Black Gold Prizm parallel (/5) which sold for $194.4k in 2022.
2019-20 Panini Mosaic Ja Morant #219
Another chromium option for collectors is the 2019-20 Panini Mosaic Ja Morant rookie card; It’s a similar card to his Prizm rookie.
The Mosaic card designs go down well with collectors, and make for a popular Ja Morant rookie card.
The card shows Morant in action with the ball for the Memphis Grizzlies – But there’s also the image variation version of the base card, which shows a different image of Morant with the ball in his blue Grizzlies uniform.
2019-20 Panini Obsidian Ja Morant #167
The 2019-20 Panini Obsidian Ja Morant is one of the rarer and harder to obtain chromium Ja Morant rookie cards out there.
It’s a popular card for collectors who can get hold of one, and the price isn’t as much as you’d maybe expect, given its scarcity.
2019-20 Panini Crown Royale Kaboom Ja Morant #10
Panini’s Kaboom cards are some of the most exciting looking modern basketball cards out there, and this first-year Ja Morant Kaboom card, from the 2019-20 Crown Royale product is one of his best rookies, and easily one of the most expensive unsigned options.
Kaboom! cards are very popular, because of their bold, comic style designs – This one isn’t only sought-after, but also rare, which contributes to the high values.
An SGC 10 graded copy of this one sold for $9.5k in 2022.
2019-20 Panini Revolution Ja Morant #102
The Panini Revolution sets have built a reputation for their wild designs, but they resonate well with collectors, and make for a cool Ja Morant rookie card option with his 2019-20 Revolution card.
With the holographic stock and foil accents, the card really stands out – The base card also have a number of different parallel versions.
2019-20 Panini One and One Downtown Ja Morant #16
Another popular Ja Morant insert is the Downtown one from the 2019-20 Panini One and One set; The unique styles of the Downtown brand is popular, and it’s one of my favorite modern basketball inserts.
The SSP insert features more than one nod to Memphis, and offers something different for collectors, which makes it one of his most expensive unsigned rookie cards; There’s been multiple sales of over $5k for this one.
2019-20 Panini Select Ja Morant #72 Concourse, #120 Premier Level, #208 Courtside
The 2019-20 Panini Select set is home to 3 different Ja Morant base rookie cards, with different designs and images, and varying scarcity.
The Concourse card (#72) comes first, and is the most common, so it takes the RC tag. There’s also the rarer Premier Level card (#120), and the even more rare Courtside card (#208).
All cards are popular Ja Morant rookie options, particuarly the parallel versions.
The Courtside card, in particular, holds high value, and the rarest parallels have sold for over $10k multiple times in the past.
The Best Ja Morant Autograph Rookie Cards
2019-20 Panini Contenders Rookie Ticket Ja Morant Autograph #118
This popular Contenders Rookie Ticket Morant rookie card is one of my favorites, and it’s one of his best rookies.
The ticket-style card design is generally popular among collectors, and it features a hard-signed autograph, which definitely adds to its value.
The card does have an image variation version, which is the version pictured above; The only difference is the image on the front, and the ‘V’ on the back.
Both versions have their own set of parallel versions, which are worth a lot more; The 1-of-1 Gold Vinyl parallel, of the variation card, sold for $120k, back in 2022.
2019-20 Panini National Treasures Ja Morant Autograph Patch #118
Panini National Treasures cards are usually the peak, in terms of values. The 2019-20 National Treasures Ja Morant auto patch rookie card is no exception.
For me, this is the best Morant rookie, for collectors who aren’t limited by budget, because it’s also the most expensive to buy, and it won’t be in the price range of regular collectors.
The card is limited to 99 copies, and the on-card signature, with the match-worn jersey patch pushes values very high, as you’d expect.
The base card itself is expensive, having sold for as high as $312k before, but there are also multiple parallel versions, like the Emerald parallel (/5), which sold for $518.4k, back in 2022 – The low-numbered parallels are Morant’s most expensive basketball cards of all time.
2019-20 Panini Impeccable Ja Morant Autograph Patch #153
The 2019-20 Panini Impeccable set provides a premium hard-signed autograph card with a match-worn jersey relic.
It’s limited to just 99 copies, with some additional parallels, and it’s another for high-end collectors, due to its big value.
It’s a high-end option, but costs a fraction of the price of his National Treasures RPA, so it offers a good cheaper alternative.
2019-20 Panini Immaculate Ja Morant Autograph Patch #117
Another high-end, and very premium option for collectors is the 2019-20 Immaculate base rookie autograph patch Ja Morant card; It’s a bit more expensive to buy than the Impeccable patch autograph, but offers another much cheaper alternative to the NT RPA.
The card is highly limited, with just 99 copies, plus some parallel versions, and the on-card signature adds to its already high appeal.
A copy of the base card, graded a PSA 9, sold for as much as $7.2k in 2022.
When Was Ja Morant’s Rookie Season?
Ja Morant’s rookie season was the 2019-20 season – In the 2019 NBA Draft, the Memphis Grizzlies drafted him with the 2nd overall pick.
Are Ja Morant Rookie Cards Worth Anything?
Ja Morant rookie cards hold good value. His wide variety of different rookie cards have varied prices, depending on a few different factors.
His most valuable rookie cards, like his 2019-20 Panini National Treasures RPA (#118) card, has sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars before. He has some other very expensive rookies as well, like the low-numbered parallels of his 2019-20 Panini Prizm card.
What Is The Most Expensive Ja Morant Rookie Card?
His most expensive rookie card to buy is his 2019-20 Panini National Treasures Rookie Patch Autograph card, which is a super-premium card that has only 99 numbered base copies, and a handful of limited parallel versions.
Are Ja Morant Rookies A Good Investment?
There’s always risk involved when betting on the future success of a player, but if Ja Morant goes on to fulfill his high potential, his rookie cards will be a great investment.
His rookie card values have largely been driven by hype and expectation, however he’s started to establish himself in the NBA, and long term, if he continues the upward trajectory, I can see his rookie cards doing well.
Ja Morant: A Background
Ja Morant quickly established himself as one of the NBA’s most exciting and dynamic players in the early stages of his pro career.
Morant was part of a stacked NBA rookie class in 2019, with lots of hot prospects like Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett, but he was one of the key players, being selected as the second overall pick in the 2019 Draft.
While Zion Williamson did get picked before him in the 2019 Draft, and maybe came onto the NBA scene with a little more hype, his injury issues early on opened the door for Morant to take the spotlight and hype.
By the end of his rookie season, with the Memphis Grizzlies, Ja Morant won the NBA Rookie of the Year award, after an impressive season.
Price data based on the Market Movers app sales history data.
