Ace Bailey Cards: Lottery Upside at Pre-Draft Prices

The Case for Getting In Early

Fifth overall pick. A 6'8" frame with shot-creation ability that drew Tracy McGrady comparisons. A dominant freshman campaign at Rutgers that announced Ace Bailey as one of the premier scoring talents in the 2025 NBA Draft class. Bailey offers the kind of offensive upside that makes scouts and collectors alike take notice — his ability to score at all three levels (catch-and-shoot, mid-range pull-up, and at the rim) gives him a translatable skill set that reduces the usual prospect risk. Selected fifth overall by the Utah Jazz, Bailey is now stepping into an NBA role where his production will determine whether pre-draft buyers look prescient or premature.

Collectors who specialize in identifying talent before the mainstream market fully prices it in view Bailey as one of the best value plays in the 2025 class alongside Cooper Flagg. Prospectors who bought pre-release products are watching his Jazz development closely, while set builders are eyeing the upcoming Topps Chrome rookie as the card that will anchor his long-term market.

Key Cards at Every Price Point

2024-25 Bowman University Chrome — Bowman University is the go-to product for college basketball prospects. Bailey's Chrome base and Refractor parallels represent the earliest licensed cards of his career. Numbered parallels and autograph versions carry the highest premiums, while base cards provide an affordable way to start collecting him.

2024-25 Leaf Metal Draft Basketball — Leaf draft products offer autographed Bailey cards at price points well below what NBA-licensed autographs will cost once he is drafted. Metal Draft cards with on-card signatures are the premium chase within this product line, and they tend to peak in value around draft night.

2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball — With the NBA license now held by Topps, Bailey's Topps Chrome rookie card will become his market benchmark. Topps Chrome is positioned as the flagship NBA product line going forward, and high-grade parallels will be the cards that define his hobby value for years to come.

What to Watch For — and When to Buy

Pre-draft markets run on projection, workouts, and mock draft positioning. A strong NBA Combine showing or a rise in consensus mock drafts can move Bailey's prices overnight — so if you like the player, buy before those events rather than chasing the spike after. Draft night itself is the single biggest price event — where he is selected and which franchise picks him will set the market tone. Summer League and early regular-season performances then determine whether the draft-night price holds, expands, or corrects. If he has a quiet Summer League, that dip is your buying window before the regular season starts.

Print runs for pre-draft products are generally lower than NBA-licensed sets, which gives early cards a built-in scarcity edge. However, the market is purely speculative at this stage — Bailey has not played a single NBA minute. Treat pre-draft cards as high-upside bets rather than proven pieces, and size your buys accordingly.

Mantel Tracks It All

Bailey's card supply is limited across pre-draft products, and when a standout Jazz performance or a Topps Chrome release date announcement drops, the best listings disappear fast — Mantel's Wish List alerts notify you the moment a specific Bailey card surfaces at your target price, so you can move before scarcity and demand collide. With early cards spread across Bowman University Chrome, Leaf Metal Draft, and upcoming Topps releases, having alerts set across products means you never miss a listing on a card you have been hunting. SLAM scores measure actual sales velocity, price trends, and trading activity, telling you whether demand for a specific Bailey card is genuine or driven by draft-week hype. Comps show what cards are actually selling for — not inflated asking prices — giving you the real data to evaluate whether a pre-draft card is priced fairly or riding speculation. Real-time listings from eBay and Fanatics Collect flow into one searchable feed, letting you compare across sellers and products without switching tabs. And the Mantel community is where Bailey collectors and 2025-class watchers connect, sharing pulls, discussing his Jazz development, and debating which products to target as the market transitions from pre-draft to NBA-licensed releases.

When supply is this thin, the collectors who win are the ones who get the alert first. Mantel gives you Wish List notifications, real-time data, and a community tracking the 2025 class so you never miss a window. Start browsing Bailey cards on Mantel and make your move before the scarce early cards are gone.