Dan Gilbert’s Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly worth $434 million. This report comes from the annual “Business of Basketball” report issued by Forbes. The Cavaliers, per this amount, rank 16th among the 30 teams in the NBA. Their profit last season, determined by operating earnings (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), was $19 million.

The Cavaliers went 21-45 during the 2011-12 season and saw attendance plummet 21 percent, to an average of just 15,900 per game at Quicken Loans Arena. It was the team’s second season since LeBron James left, but the first they could not use James to entice season ticket holders (James left the Cavs in July 2010 after fans already had purchased season tickets) which provided inflated figures for the 2010-11 campaign.

Per Forbes, the average NBA team is worth $509 million, representing a 30 percent  increase over the 2011-12 season. The increase is reportedly due to higher revenue from television, new and renovated arenas, and the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, which reduced player costs from 57 percent of revenues to roughly 50 percent. The labor deal also increased the amount of money high-revenue teams provide low-revenue teams.

The average operating income for the league’s 30 teams during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season was $11.9 million, the most since Forbes began tracking the finances of NBA teams in 1998. The NBA’s record profitability last season was a function of the new CBA and player costs (owners’ biggest expense) being slashed 20 percent due to the 66-game season.

For the 2012-13 season, the Cavaliers introduced a reconfigured scorer’s table intended to increase the amount of television exposure court-side advertisers get by at least 15 percent which should help boost revenue.

[Related: Forbes: Cavs Turned Biggest Profit Ever During 2010-11 Season]

In a recent report put together by Forbes which discussed the current state and value of NBA franchises as well as the successful television ratings which continue to go hand-in-hand with star-centric sporting events, we find that the Cleveland Cavaliers turned their biggest profit in the history of the franchise during the season which LeBron James was no longer a fixture within Quicken Loans Arena.

Per Forbes’ Kurt Badenhausen, despite falling victim to a professional sport record 26-game losing streak, Dan Gilbert’s Cavaliers earned $33 million in operating income, good enough for third best in the NBA. This figure is largely attributed to a $30 million payroll cut (James as well as Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas were no longer on the team’s roster) and no luxury tax, which cost the Wine and Gold $16 million one season earlier.

Unfortunately, this one-year success, spurred largely by fans re-upping their season tickets prior to The Decision, does not bode well for overall franchise value as the Cavaliers’ value is down 7% to $326 million after a 26% drop last year. Current attendance totals are down 4,000 fans per game to 16,149, which presently ranks 17th in the league.

On the positive side, if television ratings can be used as a forecast for future interest, The Cavaliers rank fifth among NBA teams in ratings within their local markets (5.84), trailing only San Antonio (8.27), Miami (7.59), Chicago (6.80) and Oklahoma City (5.88) thanks to excitement surrounding Rookie of the Year hopeful Kyrie Irving and the fourth-overall selection Tristan Thompson.

[Related: Report: NBA Owners Discussing Revenue Sharing]

(Source: Kurt Badenhausen, Forbes.com)