Forbes released a list of the most valauble of NBA franchises and the Cleveland Cavaliers are 25th on the list, the sixth-lowest in the NBA.
The Cleveland Cavaliers not being towards the top of most-valuable NBA teams is hardly a surprise. Forbes ranked the team near the bottom of team values and it is hard to blame them. Forbes had Cleveland 15th in their rankings last year and with the departure of LeBron James the team plummeted 10 spots. The reason for the drop is the immediate future is not exactly bright. Cleveland currently has one of the worst records in the NBA and that does not appear to change any time soon.
According to the article, Cleveland was the only team to lose money last season. This is not an outlier as the Cavaliers also lost money the year before. Two straight years of losing money is a bit of rarity considering how profitable the league has become. Part of this is due to bloated payrolls and expensive luxury tax bills. This should change in the future as the team’s payroll is not exactly trending in an upward direction. In fact the team is almost spending $100 million less this season when compared to last season. Of course the money spent on players last year includes an extremely large $50+ million luxury tax bill.
With an overhaul of the roster and a decrease in payroll, the team can at least begin to stop operating at a loss. The Cavaliers can start building something that will hopefully rise in value and more importantly performance on the court. The current product appearing on the court is less than spectacular and is at times hard to watch. A better product can bring in more revenue and potentially raise the value of the team.
