Here’s How Much Every NBA Team Is Worth Right Now — They’re All Worth Over $1 Billion

Shutterstock / Roman Tiraspolsky

For the first time in history, every NBA franchise is worth over $1 billion. Despite having the 11th best record in the East, the New York Knicks are the most valuable franchise in the NBA with annual revenue of over $426 million and a team value of $3.6 billion (up 9% this year). The New Orleans Pelicans rank 30th in the NBA in value at $1 billion, up 33% this year.

Forbes released their annual list of NBA franchise valuations. The top spots are dominated by teams residing in America’s biggest cities (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Houston, etc) which isn’t surprising. More fans = more opportunity for revenue.

What is surprising is how the average NBA team saw a 22% increase in value in just one year. The average MLB team increase last year was 19%. It was 15% for the NHL and only an 8% increase for NFL teams (on average). So the NBA is seeing the biggest surge in value of any major sport.

Here’s what the Forbes valuation list looks like for all 30 NBA teams in 2018:

1. New York Knicks — $3.6 billion — $426 million revenue
2. Los Angeles Lakers — $3.3 billion — $371 million revenue
3. Golden State Warriors — $3.1 billion — $359 million revenue
4. Chicago Bulls — $2.6 billion — $281 million revenue
5. Boston Celtics — $2.5 billion
6. Brooklyn Nets — $2.3 billion
7. Houston Rockets — $2.2 billion
8. Los Angeles Clippers — $2.150 billion
9. Dallas Mavericks — $1.9 billion
10. Miami Heat — $1.7 billion
11. San Antonio Spurs — $1.550 billion
12. Toronto Raptors — $1.4 billion
13. Sacramento Kings — $1.375 billion
14. Washington Wizards — $1.350 billion
15. Cleveland Cavaliers — $1.325 billion
16. Portland Trail Blazers — $1.300 billion
17. Phoenix Suns — $1.280 billion
18. Oklahoma City Thunder — $1.250 billion
19. Orlando Magic — $1.225 billion
20. Utah Jazz — $1.200 billion
21. Philadelphia 76ers — $1.180 billion
22. Indiana Pacers — $1.170 billion
23. Atlanta Hawks — $1.150 billion
24. Denver Nuggets — $1.125 billion
25. Detroit Pistons — $1.100 billion
26. Milwaukee Bucks — $1.075 billion
27. Minnesota Timberwolves — $1.060 billion
28. Charlotte Hornets — $1.050 billion
29. Memphis Grizzlies — $1.025 billion
30. New Orleans Pelicans — $1.000 billion

I am shocked that Philly is so low on that list. Everyone’s hot on the 76ers. Philly has diehard fans. Why isn’t that city’s franchise worth more than the Magic?! It’s also a little strange how the New Orleans Pelicans are conveniently worth EXACTLY $1 billion. This seems like President Trump being one pound off of ‘obese’ where they might’ve shifted the numbers by rounding up/down just to make the chart look better, but I could be way off in this assessment.

Here’s a chart showing those figures via Twitter/Forbes:

You can see the full Forbes report HERE for more information on what caused these spikes in value.