Cooper Flagg Net Worth 2026: $62.7M Rookie Deal, NIL Millions and ROY

Cooper Flagg’s net worth is about $40 million, according to widely reported estimates published in 2026, including a May 2026 analysis by Money.it that put him in a range of roughly $30 million to $45 million. Forbes and Bloomberg do not publish a net worth figure for him, so treat the number as a rough guide rather than an audited total.

Cooper Flagg: quick facts

Net worth

$40 Million

Salary / earnings

$14.5 Million per year

Source of wealth

NBA contract, NIL and endorsements

Profession

NBA basketball player

Nationality

American

Place of birth

Newport, Maine, United States

Date of birth

December 21, 2006 (age 19)

Flagg is one of the few athletes who became a multimillionaire before playing a single professional game. During his one season at Duke in 2024–25, his name, image and likeness (NIL) deals with New Balance and Fanatics were reported to be worth a combined $28 million. Two months after his college season ended, the Dallas Mavericks made him the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

His rookie scale contract is worth about $62.7 million over four years. He then delivered one of the best teenage seasons in NBA history, scoring 51 points in a game and winning 2025–26 Rookie of the Year. He opens his second season, 2026–27, on October 21, 2026, at the Houston Rockets.

Cooper Flagg at a glance

• Net worth: about $40 million (widely reported estimate, 2026; estimates range from about $30 million to $45 million)
• Born: December 21, 2006, in Newport, Maine
• Profession: NBA forward
• Team: Dallas Mavericks (2025–present); played college basketball at Duke (2024–25)
• NBA contract: four-year rookie scale deal worth $62,730,225
• Current salary: $14,517,480 for 2026–27
• Biggest deals: New Balance (reported $13 million) and Fanatics (reported $15 million), both signed before he turned pro
• Awards: 2025–26 NBA Rookie of the Year, NBA All-Rookie First Team, 2025 consensus National College Player of the Year, 2024 Gatorade National Player of the Year
• Spouse: not married

His net worth by year is charted at the end of this article.

Where Cooper Flagg’s money comes from

Source	Details	Estimate
NBA salary	Rookie scale contract with the Dallas Mavericks, signed July 2, 2025	$13.8 million in 2025–26; $14.5 million in 2026–27
New Balance	Shoe and apparel deal signed in August 2024, now a signature partnership with his own logo	Reported at $13 million
Fanatics / Topps	Multiyear trading card and memorabilia deal signed in January 2025	Reported at $15 million
Other endorsements	Gatorade, State Farm, AT&T, Cort Furniture, The NIL Store	Terms not disclosed

The $28 million NIL figure for New Balance and Fanatics was first reported by journalist Howard Bryant in 2025. It is not clear whether it covers one year or the full length of both contracts, which is one reason estimates of Flagg’s wealth vary.

NBA contract and salary

As the No. 1 pick, Flagg received the maximum allowed under the NBA’s rookie scale, which is 120% of the scale amount for the top slot. The first two years were fully guaranteed. On October 17, 2026, the Mavericks exercised their team option for the third season, guaranteeing his deal through 2027–28.

Season	Team	Salary	Status
2025–26	Dallas Mavericks	$13,825,920	Guaranteed (paid)
2026–27	Dallas Mavericks	$14,517,480	Guaranteed (current season)
2027–28	Dallas Mavericks	$15,208,680	Team option, exercised October 17, 2026
2028–29	Dallas Mavericks	$19,178,145	Team option, decision due in fall 2027
Total		$62,730,225	$43,552,080 now guaranteed

These are gross figures before federal taxes, agent fees and escrow. Texas has no state income tax, which helps him keep more of his pay than a player in California or New York. He will be eligible for a rookie scale extension after his third season, which could raise his salary sharply starting in 2029–30.

Early life

Cooper Flagg was born on December 21, 2006, in Newport, Maine, a small town of about 3,000 people. Basketball ran in the family. His mother, Kelly, was a senior captain at the University of Maine, and his father, Ralph, played junior college basketball at Eastern Maine Community College.

He has a fraternal twin brother, Ace, who also played at Nokomis and Montverde and later committed to Maine, and an older brother, Hunter. Cooper grew up a Boston Celtics fan.

As a freshman at Nokomis Regional High School, Flagg averaged 20.5 points, 10 rebounds and 6.2 assists and led the team to the Class A state title. He became the first freshman ever named Maine Gatorade Player of the Year.

Montverde Academy and Team USA

After his freshman year, Flagg and his twin transferred to Montverde Academy in Florida, one of the strongest high school programs in the country, and the family moved south with them. He reclassified to the class of 2024, skipping a year.

His senior season was nearly perfect. Montverde went 34–0 and won a national title while he averaged 16.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.7 blocks. He was named Gatorade National Player of the Year, a McDonald’s All-American and Mr. Basketball USA, and he finished as the No. 1 recruit in his class.

On the international stage, he won gold with the U.S. at the 2022 FIBA Under-17 World Cup and became the youngest player ever named USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. In 2024, at 17, he was picked for the USA Select Team that practiced against the Olympic team before the Paris Games.

One season at Duke (2024–25)

Flagg committed to Duke in October 2023 over UConn. He started all 37 games as a freshman and averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists, with 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks.

His best night came on January 11, 2025, when he scored 42 points against Notre Dame, setting Duke and ACC freshman scoring records. Duke won the ACC regular-season and tournament titles and reached the Final Four, where it lost 70–67 to Houston despite Flagg’s 27 points.

He swept the major awards:

• Consensus National Player of the Year and first-team All-American
• ACC Player of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year in the same season
• NABC Freshman of the Year and ACC All-Defensive Team

He also became one of the highest-paid college athletes ever. On3, which tracks NIL values, estimated his annual NIL value at about $4.3 million to $4.8 million during the season, second only to Texas quarterback Arch Manning. The reported New Balance and Fanatics deals were far larger than that estimate.

No. 1 pick and record-setting rookie year (2025–26)

The Mavericks won the 2025 draft lottery despite long odds and took Flagg first overall. He signed his rookie deal on July 2, 2025, and made his debut on October 22, 2025, starting at point guard against San Antonio.

The team around him struggled. Dallas finished 26–56 and missed the playoffs, and Flagg missed 11 games between January and March. Even so, he averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 70 starts. He was the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984–85 to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals.

He broke a string of age records along the way:

• December 15, 2025: 42 points against Utah, making him the youngest 40-point scorer in NBA history
• December 25, 2025: 27 points, six rebounds and five assists on Christmas Day, joining Oscar Robertson and Pete Maravich as the only rookies to post 25-5-5 on Christmas
• January 29, 2026: 49 points against Charlotte, a teenage record at the time
• April 3, 2026: 51 points against Orlando, the first 50-point game by a teenager
• April 5, 2026: 45 points against the Lakers, the first rookie with back-to-back 40-point games since Allen Iverson in 1997

Rookie of the Year

On April 27, 2026, Flagg was named Kia NBA Rookie of the Year. The race was close. He received 56 first-place votes and 412 points, against 386 points for Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel, with Philadelphia’s VJ Edgecombe third.

At 19, he became the second-youngest Rookie of the Year after LeBron James and the third Maverick to win the award, after Jason Kidd and Luka Dončić. He was also named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in May 2026.

Second season (2026–27)

Dallas changed almost everything around Flagg in the 2026 offseason. Owner Patrick Dumont hired Masai Ujiri as team president in May, Ujiri fired head coach Jason Kidd, and the Mavericks hired Dusty May, who had just led Michigan to the NCAA title, as their new coach.

Flagg now pairs with Kyrie Irving, who missed the previous season with a torn ACL. In the final preseason game on October 16, 2026, Flagg had 26 points and 12 rebounds against Atlanta. A day later, the team picked up his 2027–28 option. The regular season opens on October 21, 2026, in Houston.

Endorsements and brand deals

Flagg’s endorsement portfolio is unusual for a player so young because most of it was signed while he was still an amateur.

• New Balance: Flagg signed with New Balance in August 2024, before his first game at Duke. The brand’s factories in Maine were part of the appeal. In April 2026 he headlined the global launch of the New Balance 950 lifestyle sneaker, and on October 8, 2026, the company unveiled his personal “CF” logo, framed by pine branches in a nod to Maine. He does not yet have a signature shoe.
• Fanatics and Topps: a multiyear trading card and memorabilia deal signed in January 2025. He was on the cover of Topps’ 2025–26 basketball set, and his rookie cards are among the hobby’s most valuable.
• Gatorade: he became the first men’s college basketball player sponsored by Gatorade in October 2024, and the partnership continued into the NBA.
• State Farm: his first national TV spot, “Jersey Swap,” aired during the NBA’s Christmas Day games in 2025. State Farm also works with stars such as Patrick Mahomes and Caitlin Clark.
• Others: AT&T, Cort Furniture and The NIL Store, whose terms have not been disclosed.

None of his professional endorsement fees have been made public. Industry projections that he could earn more than $1 billion over his career, cited by Forbes in 2025, depend on future contracts that do not exist yet.

Real estate

There are no public reports of Flagg buying a home in Dallas or elsewhere. His family moved from Newport, Maine, to Florida when he and Ace transferred to Montverde Academy, and he still spends much of his offseason in Maine. This section will be updated if a property purchase is reported.

Personal life

Flagg is not married and keeps his private life low-key. He remains close to his family, and his parents and brothers are regular courtside guests. He wore No. 2 at Duke in honor of Donovan Kurt, a Nokomis player who died of brain cancer in 2022.

He is known for his strong ties to Maine, where he is one of the most famous athletes the state has produced.

Philanthropy

Flagg’s charity work is centered on his home state:

• The annual Flagg Brothers Basketball ProCamp in Orono, Maine, which Cooper and Ace run for children aged 6 to 13. Proceeds go to the Donovan Kurt Memorial Cancer Foundation, which helps families of seriously ill children. The third camp was held in August 2026.
• Ronald McDonald House Maine, which was the beneficiary of his official 2025 draft party and has been supported by sales of Flagg family merchandise.

How Cooper Flagg compares

Flagg’s first-year salary was the highest ever paid to a No. 1 pick, because the rookie scale rises with the salary cap.

No. 1 pick	Draft	First-year salary
Cooper Flagg (Mavericks)	2025	$13.8 million
Zaccharie Risacher (Hawks)	2024	About $12.6 million
Victor Wembanyama (Spurs)	2023	About $12.2 million
Paolo Banchero (Magic)	2022	About $11.1 million

His total wealth is still small next to the game’s richest players:

Player	Estimated net worth	Main source
LeBron James	More than $1 billion (Forbes)	NBA salary, Nike, business stakes
Shaquille O’Neal	About $500 million	Business investments, TV, endorsements
Cooper Flagg	About $40 million	Rookie contract, New Balance, Fanatics

Salaries are from the NBA rookie scale as reported by Spotrac; net worth figures are 2026 estimates. See more in our athletes net worth section.

Frequently asked questions

How much is Cooper Flagg worth?

About $40 million, according to widely reported 2026 estimates. Published figures range from about $30 million to $45 million.

How much is Cooper Flagg’s rookie contract?

His four-year rookie scale contract with the Dallas Mavericks is worth $62,730,225. He earns $14,517,480 in 2026–27.

How much did Cooper Flagg make in NIL at Duke?

His New Balance and Fanatics deals were reported to be worth a combined $28 million, though it is unclear whether that covers one year or the full contracts. On3 valued his annual NIL earnings at about $4.3 million to $4.8 million.

Did Cooper Flagg win Rookie of the Year?

Yes. He won 2025–26 NBA Rookie of the Year on April 27, 2026, narrowly beating Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel.

What shoe brand does Cooper Flagg wear?

New Balance. He signed with the brand in August 2024 and unveiled his own “CF” logo with it in October 2026.

When can Cooper Flagg sign a contract extension?

He becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension after his third NBA season, in 2028. A new deal would start in the 2029–30 season.

Sources: Spotrac and Salary Swish (contract figures), NBA.com and CBS Sports (Rookie of the Year voting), Hoops Rumors (option decision, October 2026), CBS Sports and Fox Sports (NIL reporting), Fortune and On3 (NIL valuation), Forbes, Bangor Daily News, Money.it (May 2026 estimate), Wikipedia. All net worth figures are estimates.