Prior to Zion Williamson being drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans – there were 100’s of ‘unauthorized’ cards selling on eBay.
Now that he’s officially apart of an NBA team his licensed (or official) NBA Rookie Cards will be made during the 2019-2020 calendar years.
Panini America holds an exclusive license to manufacture NBA trading cards with NBA team logo’s. Other companies, such as Topps, Upper Deck, Leaf can make cards of Zion Williamson, however only Panini can use photos of him with New Orleans Pelicans logos/colors.
Therefore most collectors will recognize Panini trading cards as ‘official’ rookie cards.
What Rookie Cards Are Available:
Coming Soon:
(Based on previous Panini releases)
- 2019/20 NBA Hoops (October)
- 2019/20 Donruss (November)
- 2019/20 Panini Certified (November)
- 2019/20 Absolute (November)
- 2019/20 Panini Prizm (December)
- 2019/20 Panini Revolution (December)
- 2019/20 Panini Contenders (December)
- 2019/20 Panini Dominion (January)
- 2019/20 Crown Royale (January)
- 2019/20 Donruss Optic (January)
- 2019/20 Panini Impeccable (January)
- 2019/20 Panini Select (March)
- 2019/20 Court Kings
- 2019/20 Spectra
- 2019/20 Panini Threads
- 2019/20 Panini National Treasures
- 2019/20 Panini Immaculate
In general, releases tend to come out towards the start of the NBA season – and ramp up throughout the year. Zion’s best rookie card will likely be his 2019/20 Panini Prizm basketball card, which tends to be released around December.