Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Largely due to lucrative new television deals and a favorable new collective bargaining agreement, the average value of NBA teams is at a record $393 million, a 6.5 percent increase over last year, according to Forbes.

The Los Angeles Lakers signed a 20-year TV deal with Time Warner Cable worth an average of $200 million annually, which helped boost the value of the franchise by 40 percent, to $900 million, surpassing the value of the New York Knicks. The Knicks are now worth, according to Forbes’ valuations, $780 million, a 19 percent jump from last year. The Knicks, who increased ticket prices by 49 percent this season to help pay for Madison Square Garden’s $850 million renovation, were the NBA’s most profitable team, with operating income of $75 million, Forbes reports.

Other teams benefiting from new TV deals were the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics. The Warriors increased in value 24 percent, to $450 million, and the Celtics are now worth $482 million, up 7 percent.

One nugget that may surprise some is the post-LeBron James boost the Cleveland Cavaliers experienced. The Cavs turned their biggest profit ever the season after losing James, as they earned $33 million, third highest in the NBA. And that profit is directly related to James’ departure—Cleveland’s payroll was $30 million less and they avoided the $16 million in luxury tax they paid the year before.

But while the league’s profits rose 4.2 percent to a record $4 billion and teams, on average, made $5.8 million last season, Forbes notes a point that was discussed numerous times during the course of the lockout: the Lakers, Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat averaged $46 million in profit, while the rest of the league sustained a cumulative loss. Fifteen teams lost money, led by the Charlotte Bobcats and Memphis Grizzlies, who each lost $25 million, according to Forbes. The NBA claimed that 22 of its 30 teams lost money.

The new CBA, however, should help the bottom lines of all the league’s teams.

Note that, whether due to a desire for privacy or because Forbes’ numbers are truly inaccurate, pro sports franchises always dispute the publication’s valuations.

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