New York Knicks: Top 5 basketball cards on the market
3) Obi Toppin
Obi Toppin was the primed lottery pick of the Knicks this season and there’s a lot of expectations headed Toppin’s way. After a couple of years of drafting 19-year-old rookies, the new front office chose to go with an older rookie who can transition into the NBA as a more refined product. His offensive prowess compared to the likes of Zion Williams in college.
His defense seems to be his number priority of needed improvement, but strangely, the NBA card collecting community do not value defense as much as offense. That sentiment seems perfectly aligned to where we see Obi Toppin’s career heading. He is expected to be a great offensive player and draws many similarities to Amare Stoudemire who had his defensive weaknesses. Offensive players will always hold more value than defensive players with NBA trading cards.
While playing behind Julius Randle, Obi may not have the greatest offensive output due to the lack of touches, but I would bet on Obi Toppin to increase his offensive production once Randle is no longer on the Knicks. Whether that happens at the end of Randle’s contract or at the trade deadline is to be seen. Nonetheless, Obi cards will only go up as long as he can stay healthy.
2) Mitchell Robinson
After posting historical numbers during his rookie campaign, he broke the FG% record (74.2%) in just his second year in the league. While his inability to stay on the court due to his fouling troubles remain, no one can deny his impact defensively at the rim. We saw Mitchell Robinson work on his outside shots through the offseason and we are expecting Robinson to make the next jump to be one of the great centers in the league. Tom Thibodeau has him starting at the beginning of the season and with the support of Nerlens Noel, he is ready to have a great season for the Knicks.
NBA card value heavily depends on historical significance. I believe Mitchell Robinson has the talent to be historically significant in this league because he already touched upon some of these records. I believe his value will rise even more once he can actually stay on the court reducing his fouls. The reason he goes second is because he is not getting enough touches offensively. But it’s early in the season so I believe it’s a good time to pick up a Mitchell Robinson rookie card.