The Most Valuable NBA Teams 2026

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NBA teams don’t come up for sale often—two-thirds of the league’s control owners have been in place for at least a decade—which is one big reason why it was such a surprise that August featured two quick flips. First, Mark Walter agreed to sell the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger only about ten months after his purchase of the franchise had closed, and then, barely a week later, Minnesota Timberwolves limited partner Marc Stad reached an agreement to buy out Marc Lore, 14 months after the retail billionaire had officially taken over. Both deals still await approval by the NBA’s board of governors, but assuming they close without incident, as expected, it will mean a tidy return for the sellers. Lore, who first agreed to buy the Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx in 2021 in a multi-stage transaction with an enterprise value of $1.5 billion, got $4.5 billion for the two clubs—a 25% annual return even when measured from the initial agreement. Walter, who is under federal investigation over loans made between his other businesses, matched that return by raising the price of the Lakers from $10 billion to $12.5 billion in less than a year. That is just life in the NBA, where valuations are as high-flying as a breakaway dunk. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinteitelbaum/2026/10/16/the-most-valuable-nba-teams-2026/ Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1 Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more: https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes: http://forbes.com Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.