7 cards of sleeper star Lauri Markkanen
In this story:
One of the top players in the NBA right now is Utah forward Lauri Markkanen. The 7’1” Finnish hooper, nicknamed “the Finnisher”, is one of the NBA's top scorers averaging 30.6 points, while also adding 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. The only two other players averaging 30+ points and 6+ rebound per game are Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic.
RELATED: 5 Hot Cade Cunningham Cards as Pistons extend winning streak to 11 games
The highest selling solo Giannis card sold for $50K in August and the highest selling card in 2025 for Luka sold for $4.7M in September. The Finnisher is certainly not on their level, but the fact that he's statistically in a league with those two leads me to believe his cards right now are HEAVILY undervalued. Below are 7 great Markkanen cards to watch, not a single one of which has cleared $9K.
2017-18 National Treasures Rookie Patch Autograph (/99)
The 2017-18 National Treasures Rookie Patch Auto has everything you'd want in a rookie card of this Jazz star, and the one above is particularly nice with the 3-color patch. This card is serial numbered to 99 so prices likely won't get out of hand anytime soon, and the highest selling copy to date sold for $4K in March, 2023.
RELATED: Cooper Flagg vs Kon Knueppel: Cards for Rookie of the Year candidates
2017 Panini Donruss Optic Autograph Gold Vinyl #159 (1/1)
This one-of-one Donruss Optic autograph gold vinyl rookie card jumped by 40% in under two weeks this May when it sold for $4,550 on May 12th. Just a few days earlier, on May 1st, this same card sold for $3,102. If Lauri Legend can somehow keep up these numbers, expect this card to sell for significantly more if it comes up for auction in 2026.
2017 Panini Prizm Fast Break Prizm - Black Rookie card #247 (1/1)
This PSA 10 one-of-one black 2017 Panini Prizm rookie card has only been up for sale three times, with almost no change from the first sale of $5,989 back in 2019 to $6K exact in March, 2023. The 2022-23 season was Markkanen's first season with the Jazz and was his best season to date, where he averaged 25.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.
2019 Immaculate Collection Zach Lavine & Lauri Markkanen Dual Patch Autograph Logoman (1/1)
This stunning Immaculate Collection dual patch autograph logoman sold for $7K back in 2021. By todays standards that looks to be a steal. Since 2019 both Lavine and Markkanen have since moved on from the Bulls, but grabbing a one-of-one autograph logoman of these two elite players for under $10K is amazing. Should this go up for sale anytime soon, I'd expect it to sell for anywhere from 5-10x what it sold for in 2021.
RELATED: $10K worth of cards stolen from Tom Brady's NYC CardVault store
2024-25 Panini Eminence Logoman Patch (/2)
The only card on this short list featuring Markkanen as a member of the Jazz, this one-of-two Logoman sold just three days ago for $2,700. Considering it's a non-autograph non-rookie logoman that was purchased before the star forward added a fourth straight 30+ point game to his resume, this card is a strong indicator of where the Markkanen market is heading.
2017-18 Panini Prizm Gold Prizm Rookie card #247 (/10)
The Panini Gold Prizms are extremely highly sought after cards, and the copy above is the highest selling Markkanen card to date. This BGS 9.5 Gold Prizm sold in February 2025 for just shy of $8,800, then dropped to $2,550 when it sold again on November 10th. That price dip doesn't match where I think the Finnisher's market is headed. It's worth noting the most recent sale closed the day before the current 4-game 30+ point scoring streak.
2018 Panini Kaboom Gold #24 (/10)
The iconic and scarce Kaboom inserts, with their comic book-inspired art, have seen explosive demand and jaw dropping sales in 2025. Although that has yet to be seen with Markkanen Kabooms. His highest selling gold rookie Kaboom sold for a modest $2,300 in November, 2023.
The top Gold rookie Kaboom sales for other first round picks in the 2017 draft include a PSA 10 of Donovan Mitchell that sold for $12.5K in November 2024 as well as a BGS 9 of Jayson Tatum which sold for $40K in 2022.
Conor is a life long sports card enthusiast who started collecting in the early ’90s, inspired by hometown heroes like Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, Tom Brady, and David Ortiz. Like many ’90s hoops fans, he also started building (and continues to build) a modest Michael Jordan collection.