Duke star Cooper Flagg doesn’t have many trading cards on the market yet, but the ones that are available are definitely selling.
As of Thursday, 131 Flagg cards have sold for at least $1,000 and 23 have sold for at least $3,000, according to Card Ladder, which tracks trading card sales across various marketplaces.
Since the 2024 NBA Draft class has failed to inspire collectors, interest has turned to Flagg. But the trading card landscape for a college freshman isn’t always as straight forward as it is for an NBA rookie. So let’s break down where the Flagg card market currently stands.
What Cooper Flagg cards are available?
The Flagg cards primarily circulating right now come from two sources:
2024-25 Bowman U Now, which are print-to-order cards made by Topps to commemorate notable moments in sports. His 2024-25 Bowman U Now #1 ungraded card sits No. 8 on the most sold basketball cards in the last 30 days, according to Market Movers. It has the highest print run (32,526) of all his Bowman U Now cards made to date.
2024 Topps Chrome McDonald’s All American, a set featuring high school players named to the all-star game’s roster. It features his first pack-pulled autographed cards.
Topps announced Thursday it will also print Bowman U Now cards during the men’s and women’s tournaments to highlight important moments, which will likely include Flagg. The card company also released a Bowman U Now March Madness set, which will include a checklist of 16 top men’s and women’s players, with packs being sold through its website until April 4. The biggest chase cards will feature dual autos from Flagg and USC’s JuJu Watkins, who like Flagg is also an exclusive signer for Fanatics, which owns Topps.
The first traditional set (with cards that come in a pack) to feature Flagg in a Duke jersey will be 2025 Bowman University Chrome, which will be released April 3, according to Beckett. This set will include Flagg’s Bowman 1st cards, which will be some of his most coveted college cards.
What are Flagg’s most valuable cards?
Despite the limited number of cards in generally less desirable formats, Flagg’s cards have sold well into four figures in February and March. Three of Flagg’s top selling cards have occurred since March (all eBay sales). Here’s the top five:
- $5,899.99: 2024-25 Bowman U. Now Debut Red Refractor autograph relic (game-used sneaker) numbered to 10 (March 10)
- $5,600: 2024 Topps Chrome McDonald’s All American patch auto numbered to five (March 6)
- $5,500: 2024-25 Bowman U. Now Debut Orange Refractor auto relic numbered to five (Feb. 11)
- $4,999.99: 2024 Topps Chrome McDonalds All American patch auto numbered to 25 (Feb. 22)
- $4,750: 2024 Topps Chrome McDonald’s All American Red Refractor auto numbered to five (March 9)
The 2025 Bowman University Chrome set will likely bring Flagg’s most valuable cards once it’s released. It will possess Flagg’s Bowman 1st autographed cards, which will likely be some of his most valuable until he hits the NBA. For example, Caitlin Clark’s 2022 Bowman University Superfractor one-of-one autographed card sold for $78,000 in January 2024. It was the highest sale for one of her cards to that point, and held that title until her WNBA cards started coming out later in the year.
Will Flagg cards only be in Topps products?
Flagg signed an exclusive multi-year contract with Fanatics/Topps, meaning his autographs will only appear on Topps or Bowman basketball cards. This will lead to less confusion of where to find autographed Flagg cards than with Victor Wembanyama.
Wembanyama has an exclusive signing contract with Fanatics, but since rival card manufacturer Panini currently holds the NBA trading card license, his autographs reside only on Topps’ unlicensed products. These are cards with no logos or team names.
But the NBA license is soon changing hands. Fanatics Collectibles CEO Mike Mahan said on “The Geoff Wilson Show” on YouTube earlier this month that Topps’ licensed NBA products will begin to roll out in early October.
Flagg, if he leaves Duke after this year’s NCAA Tournament, will likely be the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA Draft. This means he’d easily be the most attractive player for collectors to track down in next year’s NBA trading card products. So given the timing, Flagg’s official NBA rookie autographed cards will appear only in Topps products this fall.
Mahan specifically said Flagg will be featured within those products if the Duke star opts to enter the 2025 NBA Draft. Most notably, Mahan said the expectation for NBA Debut Patch autograph rookie cards will also appear in one of their products, in the same way the MLB Debut Patch cards have come out of a Topps product the past two years.
The hope will certainly be for a Flagg NBA Debut Patch card to draw a similar amount of attention as the Paul Skenes version, which sold for $1.11 million in a Fanatics Collect auction Thursday night.
Could Flagg be the next trading card hobby darling, like Skenes, Wembanyama, Caitlin Clark and Jayden Daniels?
In The Athletic’s latest 2025 NBA mock draft, colleague Sam Vecenie tabbed Flagg as the No. 1 pick and described him like this:
“From New Year’s Eve onward over 19 games, Flagg averaged 21.4 points, seven rebounds, five assists, 1.5 steals, 1.3 blocks and shot 54.2 percent from the field, 45.7 percent from 3 and 87.4 percent from the line. Whereas Zion Williamson was a dominant wrecking ball for whom college players had no answer, Flagg is more methodical and well-rounded in his dominance. He gets to his spots with ease. He’s an elite transition player as well as a versatile half-court force who can play on or off the ball and attack mismatches both big and small.
“Coming into the year, the jumper was a question. It no longer is after he shot 37 percent from 3 and 83 percent from the line as an 18-year-old. He can get to pull-ups from all three levels and finishes at the rim with serious bounce and polish. Defensively, he’s a tremendous playmaker and flies around all over the place in help. More than anything, what stands out is his elite level of competitiveness. There is not a second in which he’s on the court that he’s not playing hard or totally locked into what he’s doing.”
The Duke forward injured his ankle during the ACC Tournament, but he’s set to play in the Blue Devils’ first round matchup against Mount St. Mary on Friday.
An extended run in the NCAA Tournament would be a significant driver for an ongoing Flagg market, especially if Duke advances to the Final Four. And that momentum would carry right into the release of his Bowman 1st cards two days before college basketball’s premier event.
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(Top image: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images; Card image: Topps)
