OKC Thunder news: Team value $1.66 billion – ranks 22nd

It was a given the OKC Thunder would take a financial hit last season.  Once Paul George demanded a trade and his request was accepted it had a domino effect. With his exit to the Clippers, the next obvious move was to trade Russell Westbrook to a team he could have a chance to win a title with.

Plus with the team shifting direction into a new reposition and replenish phase it made sense to also trade Jerami Grant. This latter move might be debated now that Grant is feasting in Detroit. However, James L. Edwards III of the paid-for subscription, The Athletic wrote, Grant wanted to play on a team featuring a  Black general manager – head coach tandem.

The next shot came following 76ers VP (then with the Rockets) Daryl Morey’s social commentary that sparked controversy. Although Morey quickly removed his  ‘Free Hong Kong” tweet the damage was swift with China pulling sponsorships and refusing to air games. It was a big financial hit.

Clearly, the biggest hit was the coronavirus pandemic. The initial response led to the league being forced to suspend the season. Although the season was completed at Orlando in the Disney bubble the cost to make that occur were substantial. Moreover, the loss of fans who account for north of 40 percent of revenue was a massive hit.

OKC Thunder news – team value $1.66 billion

With so many factors coming into play in a single year the question was how those factors would affect team value. The thinking was there might be a hit to overall revenue but the valuation of the team shouldn’t suffer dramatically.

That’s because once the pandemic has been stamped out life should return to normal or close proximity to it.

With that in mind, the recent Sportico report served up the current value of every NBA team with the OKC Thunder ranking 22nd. The club’s value is established at $1.66 billion. Notably, Clay Bennett purchased the team from Seattle in 2006 for $350 million.

As per the report, the overall impact of the pandemic appears to have dropped team values (league-wide) by two percent. Intentions reviewed a similar offering via the Forbes annual report offered last February.

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The hit the Thunder took isn’t as drastic as some might assume. Sportico lists it as an eight percent decrease. Specifically, the team took in $43 million less than the prior campaign. To wit, in 2018-19 the Thunder revenue was $280 million whereas the 2019-20 revenue was $257 million.

Some minor items might be factors like jersey sales with the exit of George and Westbrook. However, Thunder Nation has always supported the fanbase, and while league-wide those jersey sales would drop there is also the uprising of young stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who is fast-tracking toward All-Star status. Suffice to say the long-term impact shouldn’t be significant.

SGA didn’t make the cut of players on the top 100 list Forbes offered last season. However, the young guard hadn’t launched his Converse shoe or clothing at that time. While he likely won’t make the cut this year either given how popular he is in Canada he might eventually land on that list. Chris Paul made the cut last season.

With his rise in the league and the eventual addition of numerous future draft picks the team’s value could take a leap depending on who those draft additions are.

The highest and lowest NBA team values are the New York Knicks ($5.4 billion) and New Orleans Pelicans ($1.35 billion) respectively. Joining the Knicks as teams worth $5 billion or more are the Warriors ($5.2) and Lakers ($5.1)

Three teams are worth $3 billion or more – the Nets, Celtics, and Bulls. Another seven are worth over $2 billion including the Rockets, Clippers, Mavericks, Raptors, 76ers, Heat, and Spurs.

Interest in purchasing teams hasn’t waned in spite of the pandemic with Sportico stating the NBA is considered the best growth opportunity of all the major league sports.

Sportico also offers a cool chart with the high points for each team that can be viewed here.