76ers are among NBA's least-valuable teams, but franchise worth has soared

Forbes' latest valuations of NBA teams might upset 76ers fans (and haters) who don't like how the team has gone about its business in recent years.

The Sixers are only the 25th-most-valuable team in the NBA. Forbes values them at $800 million, with annual revenue of $140 million and profit of $18.2 million.

Yet that valuation is almost triple the $280 million that Josh Harris and his group of co-owners paid to buy the team from Comcast-Spectacor in 2011.

It's also a significant increase from the $700 million at which Forbes valued the team in 2016 and 2015.

A good amount of the increase is caused by the NBA's soaring popularity in an era of stars such as LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. But the 76ers have helped themselves this season now that Joel Embiid is - well, make that was - finally on the court. The team's average attendance this season is 17,287, up from 14,881 last season.

It so happens that the NBA's most valuable franchises are also its most dysfunctional: the New York Knicks ($3.3 billion) and Los Angeles Lakers ($3 billion). The Knicks' value is up 11 percent from last year, and the Lakers' is up 10 percent.

The rest of the top five are the Golden State Warriors ($2.6 billion), Chicago Bulls ($2.6 billion) and Boston Celtics ($2.5 billion). The reigning-champion Cleveland Cavaliers are 11th ($1.2 billion).