Report: Grizzlies' ownership transaction values team at over $1.3B

With Memphis Grizzlies owner Robert Pera deciding to buy out the shares of two of the team's minority owners rather than sell his own share of the team through a unique clause in the team's ownership structure agreement, the process has effectively inflated the market value of the franchise.

Based on the valuation set by minority owners Daniel Straus and Steve Kaplin for their share of the team (stakes which reportedly total close to 30 percent), the team has been valued at between $1.3 and $1.4 billion, sources told ESPN's Zach Lowe.

It's a stark increase from just months ago, when Forbes' annual team value estimates pegged the Grizzlies at a mere $1.05 billion, only ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans ($1 billion). The difference between Forbes' valuation and the high-end estimate reported by ESPN is roughly what Pera's ownership group reportedly paid for the team in 2012: $350 million.

Of course, there's a difference between a prospective owner paying $1.4 billion for the entire team on the open market, and extrapolating the overall team value based on bids for smaller ownership shares, as CNBC contributor Eric Jackson points out using hypothetical ownership stakes:

For prospective basketball moguls looking to get in on team ownership at a presumably lower price point, The Madison Square Company announced earlier this year that they were looking to "identify the right owner to steward" the WNBA's New York Liberty into the future, per Newsday's Barbara Barker.