NBA Rookie Cards That Could Rise During The Playoffs
In this story:
While not horribly rare, rookies making an impact with their teams in the playoffs is always something special to see. While the higher rated draft picks tend to go to teams with worse records it typically takes more time for that team more time to get to the postseason.
But in rare cases we see rookies come in and make an immediate impact on their team's postseason success. Case and point Tim Duncan. The year before he was drafted the Spurs went 20-62, the following year, after Duncan was drafted, they went 56-26 and made it to the conference semifinals.
This year there are three that stand out, and whose cards could see a real bump if they can help carry their teams through the playoffs.
Dylan Harper | San Antonio Spurs
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Drafted No. 2 overall behind Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper has helped the Spurs go from 34-48 and finishing 13th in the west last year, to currently 58-18 this year, good enough for a playoff spot and sitting at the number two seed in the west this year.
Harper's highest selling card to-date, according to Card Ladder, is his 2025-26 Topps Chrome Next Signatures one-of-one superfractor, graded a BGS 9.5/10. It's his first superfractor, an among the first superfractors printed since Topps began printing licensed NBA cards again.
This card sold back on February 19, 2026. Alt carried the auction and it ultimately sold for $43,201.20.
VJ Edgecombe | Philadelphia 76ers
VJ Edgecombe burst onto the scene with a NBA rookie debut record of 34 points against the Boston Celtics to open the 2025-26 season. From there he's averaged more than 15 points and six rebounds per game. Edgecombe even earned MVP of the Rising Stars Challenge during this year's NBA All-Star weekend.
The highest-selling Edgecombe card, according to Card Ladder, is his rookie one-of-one foilfractor. Coming out of the first NBA licensed product from Topps after getting the ability to print logos and team names, this card was graded Certified Authentic by CGC.
Fanatics Collect held the auction for this card. The auction garnered 36 bids and ended on November 20, 2025 with a final amount of $15,900.
Kon Knueppel | Charlotte Hornets
Kon Knueppel, the former Duke player, was drafted No. 4 overall by the Hornets. He has not disappointed. What some thought was Cooper Flagg's award to lose, Knueppel has put himself in the running for this year's Rookie of the Year Award.
He not only became the fastest player to make 200 career three-point shots, but he became the record holder of most three-pointers by a rookie, surpassing the previous record holder Keegan Murray. At the time of this writing he has 243, with a little more than 10 games to go in the regular season.
The Hornets are sitting at the 10 spot in the east right now, looking at the play-in tournament. If they can get past that, it will be in part because of what Knueppel brings to the table.
According to Card Ladder, Knueppel's highest selling card is another 1-of-1 to add to this list. His 2025-26 Topps Chrome rookie one-of-one superfractor, graded a PSA 7 with a 10 auto graded, sold on Goldin Auction on March 14, 2026. It went for an astounding $396,500.
After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2008, Cole worked as an advertising copywriter until shifting to print journalism a few years later. Managing three weekly newspapers in the Dakotas, Cole won numerous awards from the North Dakota Newspaper Association including Best of the Dakotas and, their top award, General Excellence. He returned to collecting in 2021 and has since combined his passion for writing with his love of cards. Cole also writes for the Sports Cards Nonsense newsletter and has made guest appearances on multiple sports card collecting podcasts including Sports Cards Nonsense, and the Eephus Baseball Cards Podcast. IG: coleryan411 X: @colebenz