Cooper Flagg has spent plenty of time around trading cards lately, and now he’s taking a bigger swing at the hobby in his own backyard.
The Mavericks rookie opened Flagg Trading Co. in Bangor, Maine last week, bringing a card shop to the state where he grew up and turning a personal passion into a business. The response was immediate. Hundreds showed up for the ribbon-cutting, and many camped overnight to be there.
Flagg said the idea came together with his cousin, Tyler, as both of them were already deep into the hobby.
"I think it started when I was starting to sign more cards for fanatics, and the local hobby kind of grew for me from there," Flagg said of the hobby, via FOX 22 in Bangor. "Tyler was also into the hobby.
He was into it when he was young and then picked it back up when he got older. So we both kind of just had a love for the hobby, had mutual interest, and decided this is what we wanted to do."
For Flagg, opening the shop in Maine was about more than just business. The Newport native said he wanted to create a place where collectors in the region would not have to fight the same uphill battle he once did.
"I feel like there aren't a ton of places like this. I also feel like we can have pretty good outreach and distribution of product, and fulfill the needs of a lot of people," Flagg said.
"There aren't a lot of places like this. We will have a pretty good outreach and distribution.
We will have a lot of product and will be able to fulfill the needs of a lot of people. I felt that struggle before [as a collector].
Not being able to find certain things. You go to Walmarts and certain stores like that and stuff flies off the shelves.
The timing of the shop’s opening lines up with one of the most talked-about cards in the hobby this year: Flagg’s own 1-of-1 rookie trading card, signed and finished with the patch from his NBA debut with the Dallas Mavericks.
That card, pulled by South Carolina collector Jason Williams, has already become a major auction storyline. Williams was first offered a $1.5 million cash advance from Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin.
The Mavericks also put together an experience package valued between $800,000 and $1.2 million, featuring decades of season tickets and access to Flagg himself. Alt went even further, opening what it called a Debut Bounty Auction and pushing bidding to $3 million, or $3.6 million with the buyer's premium, if Williams would consign the card there.
He passed on all of it.
Williams stayed quiet for weeks before telling ESPN, "It's in a safe place for right now. I'm just sort of trying to lay low."
Now the card is headed for the market. Fanatics Collect’s September Premier Auction runs from Sept. 10 through Sept. 24, and the card already carries a PSA Gem Mint 10 grade.
The numbers around it have been climbing fast. Sports Cards Investor founder Geoff Wilson once pegged it at $1.5 million, while other projections have landed between $3 million and $5 million. Flagg’s previous card high is $366,000, set at a March auction, and this one is expected to clear that mark easily.
There is a clear reason the card has drawn so much attention. The patch inside it came from the jersey Flagg wore during the first half of his NBA debut on Oct. 22, 2025, a jersey that later sold for $1 million at NBA Auctions in February.
Topps then had Flagg sign the card at Fanatics Fest in July, and he said he was nervous before putting pen to it. Flagg wore three debut patches that night, and the other two were destroyed so this one would remain one of one.
The best comparison so far comes from another sport. Paul Skenes’ one-of-one MLB Rookie Debut Patch Autograph sold for $1.11 million through Fanatics Collect in March 2025, after the Pirates offered a bounty package the family turned down in favor of auction. Whether Flagg’s card lands above that figure is still unknown, especially with baseball and basketball collector markets behaving differently.
What is certain is that the auction will give the hobby its answer. When bidding closes two weeks after it opens, Flagg’s debut patch card will finally have a real price tag.
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