Sports Cards Reserve reports 400% jump in Cooper Flagg card transactions as NBA playoff race heats up

Sports Cards Reserve reports 400% surge in Cooper Flagg rookie card sales as NBA playoffs approach, with PSA graded cards climbing from $50 to $148 this season.

BOISE, ID, UNITED STATES, March 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Sports Cards Reserve, a Boise-based sports card dealer specializing in basketball rookie cards, has recorded a 400% increase in Cooper Flagg card sales over the past 90 days compared to the same period during the early regular season. The spike coincides with Flagg's recent tear on the court, where the Dallas Mavericks rookie has averaged 23.7 points, 7.4 assists and 6.4 rebounds over his last 10 games.

"We started seeing the shift around mid-January when Flagg strung together those first few 25-point games," said Dan , O'Donnell owner of Sports Cards Reserve. "Collectors who were sitting on the fence during the early season are scrambling to buy in before playoff pricing kicks in. We've had weeks where we moved more Flagg inventory than we did in the entire month of November."

The numbers on the court tell the story behind the counter. Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, is averaging 20.4 points and 6.6 rebounds through 61 games this season, shooting 47.3% from the field and 81.1% from the free throw line. Those are franchise-player numbers for a 19-year-old, and the card market has responded accordingly.

Flagship rookie issues have moved sharply. The 2025-26 Topps base rookie card, which traded between $2 and $4 during the first month of the season, now sells for $8 to $11 ungraded. PSA 10 graded copies of the same card have climbed from roughly $50 at the start of the season to $93 to $148 in recent transactions. The premium tier has seen even steeper gains. Topps Chrome standard rookies sit in the $14 to $18 range, while Chrome X-Fractor parallels have hit $270 at auction. Some Midnight parallels surged more than 85% in a single week earlier this month.

"The Chrome Refractors are where the real action is," O'Donnell said. "Collectors learned from the Wembanyama cycle. They watched those Chrome PSA 10s triple after the All-Star break and they don't want to miss the same window with Flagg. The difference is Flagg's print runs are tighter on several parallel sets, which puts a harder ceiling on supply."

Sports Cards Reserve has adjusted its operations to keep up with demand. The shop expanded its Cooper Flagg inventory to include over 200 individual listings across Topps, Panini and Bowman products, covering everything from base rookies to numbered parallels and on-card autographs. The company also added a dedicated Cooper Flagg section to its website at sportscardsreserve.com to make it easier for buyers to filter by card type, grade and price range.

Palmer pointed to a pattern that experienced collectors recognize but newer buyers often miss. Card prices tend to follow a predictable cycle tied to the NBA calendar. Values dip during the early regular season when the novelty of a new rookie class fades and supply floods the market from box breaks. They climb steadily as standout players separate themselves statistically. Then prices spike hard during the playoffs, when national television exposure puts players in front of casual fans who become first-time buyers.

"Right now we're in the climb phase," said O'Donnell. "Flagg's numbers over the last month have been Rookie of the Year caliber. If Dallas makes a play-in push or Flagg drops a 40-point game on national TV, you'll see another leg up in pricing. That's not speculation. That's what the data shows every single year with elite rookie classes."

The market dynamics extend beyond Cooper Flagg. Sports Cards Reserve has tracked increased activity across the entire 2025-26 rookie class, with buyers picking up cards from Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper and VJ Edgecombe as secondary targets. But Flagg accounts for roughly 60% of the shop's total basketball card revenue this quarter, a concentration Palmer says he hasn't seen since the Zion Williamson rookie season in 2019-20.

Grading submissions have followed the same trajectory. Palmer estimates that PSA and BGS turnaround times for basketball cards have stretched by two to three weeks compared to December, a signal that submission volume across the hobby is climbing as collectors rush to get raw cards authenticated and graded before playoff pricing peaks.

For collectors weighing whether to buy now or wait, Palmer offered a blunt assessment. "Nobody can time the top perfectly. But I can tell you that every day Flagg puts up 20-plus points, the floor on his cards rises. The guys who bought Topps Chrome at $8 in December are sitting on cards worth $18 today. The guys who waited are paying the premium. That's how this works."

Sports Cards Reserve operates out of Boise, Idaho, serving collectors nationwide through its online marketplace. The company offers professional card value estimates, commission sales for high-value collections, and inventory across five categories: NBA basketball, NFL football, MLB baseball, NHL hockey and non-sports cards.

For company information, press releases and media inquiries, visit the Sports Cards Reserve Media Room at Sports Cards Reserve Media Room.

Dan O'Donnell
Sports Cards Reserve
email us here

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.