A rising tide raises all ships — a saying NBA teams should be plenty familiar with by now.
The average value of an NBA franchise in 2023 is $3.85 billion — a 35% increase from last season and a 75% increase since 2019, according to Forbes’ most recent tabulations.
Forbes largely chalks the spike up to the league’s new imminent media rights deal and two team sales in the past year.
A new media rights agreement could exceed $75 billion once agreed to. With media rights money being split evenly among the NBA’s 30 teams, that increased media money will benefit lower-income franchises more drastically.
Case in point, 23 of the bottom 24 teams in this year’s list experienced a one-year value increase of 30% or more; 13 of the bottom 16 teams saw at least 50% increases.
The biggest gainers were the Charlotte Hornets, who gained 76% after being sold by Michael Jordan to Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall for $3 billion in June. The second-largest gainer was the Denver Nuggets, who increased their coffers by winning their first NBA title.
Another team sale also drove league-wide values: in December, the Phoenix Suns’ sold to Mat Ishbia for a record $4 billion.
But through it all, the Golden State Warriors are the league’s most valuable team for a second straight year, dwarfing the next closest teams with a $7.7 billion valuation.
Here is the list of team value rankings in the NBA based on Forbes data from the 2022-23 season.
| Rank | Team | Value | 1-Year Increase |
| 1 | Golden State Warriors | $7.7 billion | 10% |
| 2 | New York Knicks | $6.6 billion | 8% |
| 3 | Los Angeles Lakers | $6.4 billion | 8% |
| 4 | Boston Celtics | $4.7 billion | 18% |
| 5 | Los Angeles Clippers | $4.65 billion | 19% |
| 6 | Chicago Bulls | $4.6 billion | 12% |
| 7 | Dallas Mavericks | $4.5 billion | 36% |
| 8 | Houston Rockets | $4.4 billion | 38% |
| 9 | Philadelphia 76ers | $4.3 billion | 37% |
| 10 | Toronto Raptors | $4.1 billion | 32% |
| 11 | Phoenix Suns | $4.0 billion | 48% |
| 12 | Miami Heat | $3.9 billion | 30% |
| 13 | Brooklyn Nets | $3.85 billion | 10% |
| 14 | Washington Wizards | $3.5 billion | 40% |
| 15 | Denver Nuggets | $3.37 billion | 75% |
| 16 | Cleveland Cavaliers | $3.35 billion | 63% |
| 17 | Sacramento Kings | $3.33 billion | 64% |
| 18 | Atlanta Hawks | $3.32 billion | 68% |
| 19 | San Antonio Spurs | $3.25 billion | 63% |
| 20 | Milwaukee Bucks | $3.2 billion | 39% |
| 21 | Utah Jazz | $3.09 billion | 53% |
| 22 | Portland Trail Blazers | $3.08 billion | 47% |
| 23 | Detroit Pistons | $3.07 billion | 62% |
| 24 | Oklahoma City Thunder | $3.05 billion | 63% |
| 25 | Charlotte Hornets | $3 billion | 76% |
| 26 | Orlando Magic | $2.95 billion | 59% |
| 27 | Indiana Pacers | $2.9 billion | 61% |
| 28 | New Orleans Pelicans | $2.55 billion | 59% |
| 29 | Minnesota Timberwolves | $2.5 billion | 50% |
| 30 | Memphis Grizzlies | $2.4 billion | 45% |
