Rockets CEO Tad Brown stunned the NBA when he announced at a news conference that Leslie Alexander has put the team up for sale. In recent years, the sale of an NBA team has meant jaw-dropping prices that far exceed expectations. The Atlanta Hawks, the last team to sell, sold for $730 million in 2015. The Los Angeles Clippers were bought by former Microsoft czar Steve Ballmer for $2 billion in August 2014. Before that, the Milwaukee Bucks went for $550 million, and the Sacramento Kings for $534 million.

In the rare occasions an NBA franchise has come up for sale in recent years, the market has shown that they are valued at astronomical and ever-rising prices. The Rockets’ sale, about three years after Ballmer purchased the Clippers, comes at a fascinating time. The NBA has been the picture of financial health, with every indicator suggesting growth in overall value. The sale of the Rockets, a big-market team with superstar James Harden locked up for the long term, could serve as a litmus test to show whether that remains the case.

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The question that begs to be asked: Does Alexander believe he’s cashing out at the top of the market? Alexander is a visionary as both a businessman and an NBA owner. He formed his own investment company in 1980, and he hired General Manager Daryl Morey in 2007, ushering in a new era of analytics-intensive decision-making. He would be a candidate, strictly from a business profile, to act first.

Brown said Alexander has been worn down and is intent on “changing the fabric of his life” in his early 70s by focusing on family and philanthropy. But it makes sense to wonder whether Alexander sees a potential decline coming in the value of NBA franchises after an unprecedented spike.

Forbes’ latest valuation pegged the Rockets at $1.65 billion, but every recent sale of an NBA franchise has produced prices that exceed the estimates. If Alexander’s decision to sell signals a reversal, it would be a shock to most experts and insiders.

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“I don’t think people are running around trying to discern whether the NBA sky is falling,” said David Carter, the executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute.

The financial fates of sports franchises are influenced directly by the rights fees deals struck with television networks. In 2014, the NBA signed a nine-year, $24-billion deal with ESPN and Turner, which enriched NBA owners and validated the skyrocketing price tags for teams.

The deal provides short-term stability because the money is still flowing in, but long-term uncertainty because no one can reliably predict the landscape for national TV deals in two years, let alone six, thanks to unbundling and cord-cutting. It’s possible the money will remain, with companies such as Google and Facebook bidding for the content rights instead of ESPN and Fox. It’s possible that a significant revenue source dries up.

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In a meeting with Washington Post reporters last week, Ballmer outlined future possibilities for teams to augment — or replace — national television rights revenue. Teams could sell season-long broadcast packages directly to consumers; the highest-end in-game experience could be enhanced; virtual reality could provide a new menu of options — and price points — for viewers.

His overarching point: The NBA is, ultimately, a certain type of media company, and its product is content with a high demand. The audience is global, and in some fashion, people are willing to pay for it.

The potential bidders will come to the Rockets with that understanding. Carter said labor peace, media distribution and international development are the three most significant markers for the big-picture health of a sports league.

“The NBA is out in front in a lot of those areas,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a bubble ready to burst.”