As the NBA season kicks off and the Toronto Raptors get hyped up to get underway with a fresh-looking squad, a report highlights the organization's growing value in the years after a franchise-altering 2019 championship win.

In fact, it looks like every franchise in the league is appreciating in value, according to the latest ranking of the NBA's most valuable teams, published by Forbes.

Even after a 2020-21 season that kept the league's arenas largely closed off to fans, the report says that the average value of an NBA franchise has somehow risen 13 per cent since February, now soaring at a sky-high USD $2.48 billion (all figures ahead will be in U.S. dollars).

And how about our boys in red (or black and gold, or purple, or even sometimes blue) now returning to the Scotiabank Arena?

The Raptors have held onto their position as the tenth most valuable of the league's 30 teams, the franchise value of $2.475 billion ranking ahead of some pretty huge names in the NBA. Well above current rivals like the 17th-place Milwaukee Bucks and past rivals like the 23rd-place Cleveland Cavaliers.

Rankings have shifted around the Raptors since the last valuations were released by Forbes in February, but the team has held onto their #10 position, its overall value increasing by 15 per cent in just eight months from its previous value of $2.15 billion.

The Raptors' operating income, defined as the organization's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, was the third-lowest in the league at just $2.1 million, despite a revenue stream of $194 million.

If you think that's bad, stacked "superteams" the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors have operating incomes deep in the red, at -$80 million and -$44 million, respectively.

This discrepancy doesn't mean much for these franchises' values, though, ranked at #7 and #2 in the league overall, with current values of $3.2 billion and $5.6 billion.

But does any of this really matter on the court?

Well, if you look at the NBA's most valuable team, the New York Knicks — a $5.8 billion value — and their last two decades of struggles, it becomes clear that a team's on-court success isn't the only path to a successful (or at least wealthy) franchise.