Could the Nets sell for $3 billion?

Mikhail Prokhorov
Mikhail Prokhorov (AP)
Mikhail Prokhorov
Mikhail Prokhorov (AP)

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will reportedly buy the Los Angeles Clippers for a hefty $2 billion, the largest sale price for an NBA franchise in the history of the sport. It’s more than three times the value of the franchise; according to Forbes, the Clippers have a value of about $580 million.

That’s partly due to the rapid bidding war that ensued to get Sterling (who paid just $12 million for the franchise in 1981) out of the NBA, and partly because an NBA franchise is akin to a work of art or a priceless jewel: there’s limited quantities and a psychological cost to owning one of the rare stones.

The sale led Business Insider to look at all 30 NBA teams with one question: how much would each NBA franchise sell for if they all had the same price bump?



via Business Insider

The Brooklyn Nets, reportedly worth around $780 million, would sell for $2.71 billion if they picked up the same bump that the Clippers got. As the years move forward and the Nets continue to grow, their value will grow accordingly. It’s plausible that they could sell for $3 billion today.

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov paid $200 million for an 80 percent stake in the Nets and a 45 percent stake in Barclays Center back in May of 2010. If he sold his stake for a $3 billion value, Prokhorov would net a $2.4 billion return after owning the team for just four years.