CLEVELAND -- What was the cost of the Cleveland Cavaliers' third consecutive trip to the NBA Finals? About $6.2 million.
According to Forbes, that's how much money the Cavs lost last year, making them the only team to still be operating in the red after revenue sharing. Forbes released this information as a part of its annual league valuations, pointing to Cleveland's $134 player payroll and $25 million luxury tax bill as the primary culprits for the Cavs' loss.
The only team by our count to post an operating deficit after revenue sharing was the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team lost $6.2 million thanks to a $134 million payroll, plus a $25 million luxury tax penalty. Other teams posted net losses like the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks. The Pistons faced a significant one-time impairment charge with their move to their new home at Little Caesars Arena (we estimate the team earned $22 million in operating profit). The Bucks net loss was in part due to the amortization of intangibles resulting from the 2014 purchase of the team. Our figures show an operating profit of $20 million. We also exclude extraordinary items like the Indiana Pacers’ gain last season on the forgiveness of debt.
That's not to say owner Dan Gilbert's team is in bad shape financially. Now valued at $1.325 billion, the Cavs saw a 10 percent increase in value from a year ago -- although that increase represented the second-smallest in the NBA this year.
The Cavs did, however, see a drop in their Forbes ranking, falling from the league's 11th-most valuable team a year ago to 15th.
This year marked the first that all 30 NBA teams were each valued at at least $1 billion.
The Cavs' monetary losses certainly won't go overlooked in the team's headquarters, especially as the prospect of taking on additional salary at the Thursday trade deadline looms. But after first purchasing the team for a reported $375 million in 2005, Gilbert is still all but guaranteed -- and then some -- to turn a profit whenever it is he decides to sell the team.
