There is a strong market for both the players you mentioned. Any of their cards are marketable.
Autos are different. Most are called "junk" and are not worth much. It really comes down to the player who signed it. A Jordan auto can fetch $5000, for example, where an unknown rookie from ten years ago may not even be worth a buck.
The same goes for other, more common, cards. A common Larry Bird is worth far more than some guy (or girl) who's only success was being on a practice squad or something.
Me? I like autos a lot, but my $$$ is extremely limited, and I rarely purchase anything anymore. I recently broke my rule against buying anything, but I used a Christmas Bonus to do it, and I felt I earned the right to splurge lol...Sorry to say, but it's highly unlikely that I'm your guy, buying-wise. Good luck though.
Hope that helps.