we're for sale

$0.99?  I'm almost insulted.

Yea, cuz this owner we've got now sucks. He has no idea how to run a successful NBA team.

It is worth more than when they bought it, very true.  I don't know what they bought it for (or what their operating losses have been in that time), but conveniently the Forbes list came out today and their estimated value is $405 with an operating revenue of $15 million.  Clearly, sports franchises are an equity building business and not an income business.  Still, both the income and the equity values are reflected in your contracts.  It only takes a one bad contract (say over paying Rashard Lewis by $50 million or anything being paid to Raef Lafrentz) to really cut into your equity value.  The Spurs have managed to avoid those of late and managed to get rid of Malik's and Rasho's contracts.  (Do you realize they are both making about between $7-$8 millions?)

The contracts for Tony and Manu do seem like values to us, especially now, but when they signed they weren't discounts really.  I think Tony signed his prior to the 2005 season when he hadn't really shown a consistent offensive game -- if you want to call his consistent now -- and Manu was the year before in 2004.  Manu had only completed his second year and was still somewhat of an enigma.  He hadn't become the Sickness.  So, in a business sense, you could say the Spurs are currently being rewarded for the risk they took in signing both Tony and Manu to long term contracts.  Of course, we all knew they were good signings at the time, unlike The Bill Simmons who dissed Manu's signing.

Looking at current rosters and the salaries players are getting, it is very difficult to determine how much of a "less than open market" value each guy is.

For Tony, looking at other shooting point guards, it's apples and oranges.  Nash makes $11.3M and is clearly one of the great bargains.  A lot of the guys are either WAY overpaid: Marbury, WAY underpaid:  Paul, D. Williams and other rookies playing for $3-4M, or tough to compare:  Kidd and Iverson at $19+.  Devin Harris just signed an extension at $8M.  I think Tony is better, by far, but I don't know by how much.

Manu, on the other hand, makes less than a LOT of wingmen in the league (12th best shooting guard my ass) and is a LOT better.  Carter, Allen, Jefferson, Pierce, Josh Howard, The Jet (makes almost the exact same), Joe Johnson, Lewis, Stojakovic, etc.  I'm still laughing.  

NOTE:  I found the purchase price at the Forbes site.  I'll add that info later.  Right now I have to go cook dinner.