MAVS NEWS:

[KillerLeft]

This isn't true at all. Ticket sales (and prices) Jersey sales (and prices), local promotional tie ins, the draw of corporate suites, nationally televised games...the list goes on and on and on. The roster value and future payroll of a team is ABSOLUTELY factored into valuation. 

It's the NBA. The most significant differentiator between it and other pro leagues is that a team's entire outlook, including even their valuation, tends to change significantly based on ONE player.

Just to double down on this, when Cleveland drafted LeBron James the entire ECONOMY OF CLEVELAND (and by extension, the state of OH) benefited, as well as the opposite happening when he left.