Detroit Pistons: How much is the franchise worth?

The Detroit Pistons are the worst team in the NBA, but that hasn’t stopped owner Tom Gores from making a buck or two.

The NBA as a whole is thriving and awash in money between lucrative TV deals, top-tier ticket prices and a worldwide appeal that just keeps expanding.

Fans of the Detroit Pistons have done their part, and supported this team all season, filling seats at Little Caesar’s Arena even though the team stinks for the 4th straight season.

In fact, they’ve stunk for just about the entirety of Tom Gores’ tenure as owner, as they have yet to win a single playoff game since he bought the team in 2011. They’ve only been to the playoffs twice under Gores’ leadership, both ending in sweeps.

Even though Tom Gores’ stint as owner of the Pistons hasn’t yielded any success on the court, it hasn’t stopped the value of the franchise from skyrocketing, which shows why it is good to own an NBA team.

How much are the Detroit Pistons worth?

Gores bought the team in 2011 for the sum of $325 million, which now seems like a drop in the bucket, as you could barely buy a G-League team for that these days.

According to Forbes, the most valuable team in the NBA is now the Golden State Warriors, who are worth a staggering seven billion, or roughly the GDP of a small country. What a difference drafting Steph Curry made, as the Warriors were one of the dregs of the league for most of their existence prior to Curry and are now one the most valuable franchises in professional sports.

You have to go a little further down the list to find the Detroit Pistons, who are the 23rd most-valuable team in the league at $1.9 billion.

So Tom Gores, whose team has been one of the worst in the NBA since he took over, is six times more valuable than when he bought it back in 2011. It’s good to be a billionaire.

Imagine if this team were actually good? While this valuation is great for Gores, the fans are left wondering when we are going to see another playoff victory and if we wouldn’t have been better off if some other insanely rich person hadn’t stepped up to buy the team 12 years ago.