The owner of the one-of-one Cooper Flagg Rookie Debut Patch Autographed (RDPA) card from Topps has decided to sell the lucrative collectible in an auction, rather than accept the “bounty” offered by the Dallas Mavericks.
Fanatics Collect, which will hold the sale running from Sept. 10-24, announced the auction on Friday. The Flagg card is expected to sell for more than $1 million.
The Flagg card was pulled by Rhode Island collectibles shop Baseball Cards of RI, which opened a 2025-26 Topps Chrome Updates Basketball box during its “RhodyBreakers” live stream on Aug. 10.
Prior to the card being found, the Mavericks offered a considerable “bounty” for the card which included premium lower-level season tickets for 32 years (a nod to Flagg’s No. 32 jersey), a signed game-worn Flagg jersey, a post-game photo with Flagg, a VIP tour of the team practice facility and a trip with airfare, hotel accommodations and tickets to see Dallas visit the Boston Celtics, among several other prizes.
The owner of the card, identified as Jason Williams from South Carolina, opted to consign the card with Fanatics and take whatever price is yielded at auction rather than the package offered by the Mavericks.
NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI – AUGUST 11: The 1-of-1 Cooper Flagg 1-of-1 Rookie Debut Patch Autograph was found at Baseball Cards of Rhode Island, in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. (Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
In a “Debut Bounty Auction,” held by trading card marketplace Alt in an attempt to persuade Williams to consign the auction with its company, binding bids for the Flagg card were accepted and went up to $3.8 million before the event was closed on Wednesday, according to The Athletic.
Trading card marketplace Alt attempted to lure the Flagg card to its platform by opening a “Debut Bounty Auction,” where it accepted binding bids for the card before it was consigned anywhere.
According to Alt, bids would carry over if the card was consigned to the platform or voided in any other scenario. Bidding had reached $3.8 million for the Flagg Debut Patch before Alt closed the auction on Wednesday.
In addition to the Flagg card, Fanatics will also auction off RDPA cards featuring San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper and Charlotte Hornets forward Kon Knueppel. The cards each feature a patch that the players wore on their respective jerseys during their first NBA games last season.
Last year, a card with a jersey patch from the debut of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes sold for $1.11 million to Dick’s Sporting Goods after it was pulled from a pack by an 11-year-old collector in Los Angeles. That auction was also held by Fanatics Collect.
Baseball players had previously dominated the market for RDPAs. But this past season’s NBA rookie class, led by Flagg, is expected to drive significant sales. The Flagg, Harper and Knueppel cards are each expected to surpass the Skenes card in value.
In his first season, Flagg won NBA Rookie of the Year honors after averaging 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field and 29.5% on 3-pointers for the Mavericks.
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