Cooper Flagg is not just a player anymore. He is a brand that prints its own money. The former Duke forward is opening a trading card shop called Flagg Trading Co. in his home state of Maine. The grand opening lands on September 12. This move puts him right next to Tom Brady and Lewis Hamilton in the card business. It shows the 19-year-old Dallas star knows exactly how to build wealth before his rookie contract even ends.
Millions in the Hobby Market
The numbers behind this story are wild. On August 28, a Flagg rookie card that is one-of-one fetched $252,000. Yahoo Sports reported that another Flagg card from the same auction went for $288,000. These sales happened without a traditional autograph on the card. Scarcity and the rookie-year hype are driving prices higher than anyone expected. To date, his most prized possession remains a 2025-26 Topps Chrome Sapphire Padparadscha one-of-one rookie autograph. That card sold for $366,000 in March. The market is hungry for anything with his name on it.
Flagg is already the Rookie of the Year for the 2025-26 season. He averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 70 games. He led the Mavericks in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. That on-court dominance is the fuel for the card market fire. A jersey tied to his scoring run sold for $329,400 earlier in August. His NBA debut jersey even changed hands privately for $1 million. The shop in Maine is just the next logical step in a massive money machine.
The Big Auction Test
Things are about to get even more expensive. Fanatics Collect is set to auction a one-of-one Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card in September. This card features a patch from his first-ever NBA game with Dallas. The auction runs from September 10 through September 24. According to reports, the card was pulled from a pack by a collector in Rhode Island who paid $515 for the entry. The Mavericks offered him season tickets and a photo with the player to sweeten the deal. That card is expected to shatter the record for modern basketball cards.
The current record for an ultra-modern card sits at $5.1 million for a Victor Wembanyama card sold in May. A Paul Skenes debut patch card sold for $1.1 million. That Skenes figure is anticipated to be surpassed by Flagg’s card with ease. The Dallas front office should be smiling at the value this is generating. It turns a local kid from Maine into a global asset for the franchise. The shop opening proves he wants to own the hobby, not just play in it.
Flagg is 19 years old and already running a business empire. He joins a short list of A-list athletes who own card shops.
