Flagg's Trading Card Fetches $8.04 Million as Dallas Camp Begins Without Lively

A Cooper Flagg trading card featuring a game-worn debut patch sold for $8.04 million at auction, making it the third-most expensive NBA card and fifth-highest sports card ever sold. The figure surpassed Flagg's own previous record, a marker of how quickly the market has priced him as a generational asset after his rookie season of 20.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game on 46.6% shooting.

That backdrop sets an unusual tone as Dusty May opens his first training camp in Dallas. The franchise centerpiece is not in question — the card sale underscores that — but the frontcourt around him is thin from the jump. Dereck Lively II, nine months removed from foot surgery, remains not cleared for basketball activity as camp begins. Dallas re-signed Dwight Powell to provide veteran depth, but Lively's absence leaves a meaningful gap at center while the Mavericks work in new acquisitions Santi Aldama and Moussa Cisse.

May's first order of business was always going to be installing the execution and discipline that last season's 27-56 finish made plainly necessary. Doing it without a starting center in the building from day one adds a layer of complication to an already compressed timeline.