Ja Morant's Slumping Card Market Responds After Trade to Portland
In this story:
Ja Morant will be taking his talents to the Portland Trail Blazers, and early indications in the card market are showing a hopeful spike since the trade. If there has ever been a time for a player needing a fresh start, this might be it. Morant, who entered the NBA in 2019, burst onto the scene with his first few years in the league, setting both the basketball world and the trading card market on fire.
The fire was all but extinguished in more recent years. Portland hopes it will be blazing again soon. Collectors are standing by, hoping for his card market to be reignited too. We look at Morant's NBA career and card market in 3 parts: his highs, his lows, and his possible future.
Part 1: NBA Superstar On The Rise & Card Sales Spike
Morant, an elite athlete, drew wide acclaim for his fearless and uptempo play style. His lightning-quick first step and epic leaping ability were paired with mid-air twists and contortions all the way to the rim. His rise was mirrored in the card market, as shown on Card Ladder through these glory years.
He led the Memphis Grizzlies to the playoffs in three straight seasons beginning in the 2020-21 season. This was the heyday for Morant, the Memphis faithful, and collectors who were willing to pay top dollar. In fact, his rookie cards were fetching half a million dollars around this time.
His 2019-20 Panini National Treasures Emerald Rookie Patch Auto /5 BGS 9.5 was sold on April 30, 2022, through Goldin Auctions for $518,400. Other sales for versions of this /5 card include $550,000 on February 7, 2022, and $312,000 on April 17, 2022. These sales suggest a collector mentality of "this will never end, there is no downside on the horizon!"
Part 2: Ja Morant Card Sales Come Crashing Down
Unfortunately for those collectors willing to pay Hall-Of-Fame prices for exciting upside and who minimized the downside, there turned out to be one, or two, or three downsides, depending on how you want to keep score. His card market responded in kind.
The series of unfortunate events that led to the downfall of Ja Morant is well-documented yet still mysterious. This includes at least two episodes in which a series of incidents occurred in rapid succession, during which Morant was disciplined for the initial offense and did the same thing shortly after.
It is interesting to note that even when you control for the highest priced cards within his player index and create a custom analysis of raw versions of five base rookie cards, like the one pictured above, and mix in a 2nd year card, that you continue to see this exaggerated trend (as pictured below).
Part 3: The Redemption Arc Might Be Coming As Card Sales Rise
The rest of this story hasn't been fully written yet, but the first sentences have been jotted down. Ja Morant is now a Portland Trail Blazer and is being offered a fresh start with a new team.
America loves a redemption story, and so too do card collectors. Early indications suggest that Portland coaches have a plan and may unlock a new role for Ja, and collectors are watching closely and are already buying (as seen below). Maybe this upswing is an indication of the redemption arc for all involved.
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D. Allen Thompson is a contributing collectibles writer with eclectic tastes. He provides enthusiastic commentary on the ever-evolving world of trading cards against the backdrop of the broader historical, economic, and societal contexts in which they exist. He is on a journey to find fascinating stories and meet interesting people while using trading cards as the guideposts to lead the way to the American Dream.