The Los Angeles Lakers’ pending $12.5 billion ownership-sale transaction is already sending shockwaves through the NBA business landscape, and the Chicago Bulls are among the biggest projected winners. Mike Ozanian of CNBC estimates that every one of the league’s 30 franchises will see a double-digit percentage bump in valuation, with the Bulls and New York Knicks each projected to rise 26%.
For Chicago, that works out to an estimated $1.65 billion jump in franchise value. It’s a massive financial boost for a team that has had relatively few obvious bright spots in the 2020s, aside from landing top-lottery prospect Caleb Wilson with the fourth overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
That valuation spike matters because it underscores what kind of organization the Bulls are right now: profitable, stable, and not exactly pressured by the business side to chase risk. According to Ozanian’s reporting, Chicago ranked seventh in profit at $121 million EBITDA and 12th in revenue at $413 million during the 2024-25 NBA season.
Those numbers tell the story of a franchise that keeps bringing in money even without much postseason success. The Bulls have made only two playoff appearances in their last 10 NBA seasons, dating from the 2025-26 season, yet they still out-earn 18 other teams.
That creates a real test for Bulls president and CEO Michael Reinsdorf and the basketball operations group now led by executive vice president Bryson Graham, who replaced Arturas Karnisovas in April 2026. If Graham wants to build something better than a financially comfortable middle-of-the-pack operation, he’ll need to make the case for spending in ways ownership can justify.
That includes requests for more player development staff, bigger scouting budgets, and, most of all, the luxury tax. Those are the kinds of investments that can help a roster improve, but they also have to fit within a business model that has clearly rewarded stability and profit.
In other words, the Lakers’ ownership windfall only strengthens the hand of Bulls ownership if it wants to keep prioritizing financial steadiness over aggressive basketball spending.
Ozanian’s profit data also paints a sharp picture at the other end of the league. The bottom five teams in EBITDA for the 2024-25 season were the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Phoenix Suns.
Each of those franchises has already generated plenty of noise for different reasons. The Bucks waived and stretched Damian Lillard’s remaining $113 million salary in the 2025 offseason to help acquire Myles Turner and, more practically, get out of the first-apron spending tier.
The Celtics made headlines during the 2026 offseason by trading Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Mavericks are still carrying the fallout from trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers during the 2025 trade deadline, a deal whose return has since depreciated to Max Christie and a single future first-round pick as of the 2026 offseason.
There was also fresh ownership movement on Friday, when ESPN’s Shams Charania reported a completed sale involving the Minnesota Timberwolves. American business leader Marc Stad became the controlling owner and largest shareholder of the Timberwolves and Lynx by buying the majority of Marc Lore’s stake at a $4.5 billion valuation.
And in Phoenix, reporting by Duane Rankin of Arizona Republic has raised more questions about Mat Ishbia’s future as majority owner, with his mortgage business, United Wholesale Mortgage, Inc., drawing public scrutiny over negative quarterly financial results.
For the Bulls, all of it adds up to one simple reality: in a league where franchise value keeps climbing, the real challenge is turning that financial strength into basketball ambition.
In Other News...
Michael Jordan Relic From The Bulls Last Dance Is About To Test Fans
A game-worn Michael Jordan jersey from his final championship season with Chicago is about to become one of the most closely watched memorabilia sales in recent memory. The relic, tied to the Bulls' Last Dance era and authenticated by its Finals pedigree, has long carried the kind of mythology that sends collectors into a frenzy whenever it surfaces.
Sports investor Rob Gough is putting the jersey up through Pharrell Williams Joopiter auction house, after acquiring it through an intermediary, and the sale is drawing attention well beyond the hobby. Gough thinks it could reset the sports memorabilia market entirely, with the kind of price tag that would make even the most hardened collectors do a double-take, but the final number will have to wait until the auction gets underway. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Fans Have A Reason To Revisit The Reinsdorf Question
Talk around Bulls ownership has a way of resurfacing whenever the franchise drifts back into the league-wide conversation, and this time it comes from a reminder that big-money buyers are always lurking. A former NBA board of governors member said Jerry Reinsdorf could be tempted to sell the team if the right offer came along, while also noting that most owners are not actively looking to get out. The larger point, though, is that there is plenty of money available for anyone hoping to buy into the NBA, even if true ownership usually comes down to more than a balance sheet.
For Bulls fans, the appeal of revisiting the Reinsdorf question is less about a rumor than about what a sale would mean for the franchises long-term direction. Reinsdorf has been the central figure in the teams modern era, and any change at the top would carry obvious implications for how the Bulls are run heading into the 2026-27 season, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 21. For now, the conversation sits in that familiar space between possibility and reality, with no clear sign that the question is going away anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Missed Out On A Top Euro Guard For One Frustrating Reason
Sylvain Francisco said he drew interest from multiple NBA teams this offseason, and the Bulls were among them. For a club still sorting through ways to add playmaking and guard depth, the idea of landing a proven EuroLeague guard naturally carried appeal, especially with Chicago continuing to keep one eye on the international market for help.
Francisco said a potential Bulls deal never got far enough to become real, with the process slowed by timing and uncertainty around a key roster decision elsewhere in the league. He is now expected to spend the 2026-27 season with Panathinaikos after opting out of his previous contract, leaving Chicago to move on while another plausible backcourt option slipped away. [Read more 🡒]