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Friday, February 14, 2025

The Most Valuable NBA Franchises for 2023

  • The Golden State Warriors are the NBA’s most valuable team for a second straight year.
  • An imminent media rights deal and big team sales boosted values league-wide.
Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul and guard Stephen Curry celebrate against the San Antonio Spurs during the second quarter at Chase Center.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

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.

RankTeamValue1-Year Increase
1Golden State Warriors$7.7 billion10%
2New York Knicks$6.6 billion8%
3Los Angeles Lakers$6.4 billion8%
4Boston Celtics$4.7 billion18%
5Los Angeles Clippers$4.65 billion19%
6Chicago Bulls$4.6 billion12%
7Dallas Mavericks$4.5 billion36%
8Houston Rockets$4.4 billion38%
9Philadelphia 76ers$4.3 billion37%
10Toronto Raptors$4.1 billion32%
11Phoenix Suns$4.0 billion48%
12Miami Heat$3.9 billion30%
13Brooklyn Nets$3.85 billion10%
14Washington Wizards$3.5 billion40%
15Denver Nuggets$3.37 billion75%
16Cleveland Cavaliers$3.35 billion63%
17Sacramento Kings$3.33 billion64%
18Atlanta Hawks$3.32 billion68%
19San Antonio Spurs$3.25 billion63%
20Milwaukee Bucks$3.2 billion39%
21Utah Jazz$3.09 billion53%
22Portland Trail Blazers$3.08 billion47%
23Detroit Pistons$3.07 billion62%
24Oklahoma City Thunder$3.05 billion63%
25Charlotte Hornets$3 billion76%
26Orlando Magic$2.95 billion59%
27Indiana Pacers$2.9 billion61%
28New Orleans Pelicans$2.55 billion59%
29Minnesota Timberwolves$2.5 billion50%
30Memphis Grizzlies $2.4 billion45%

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