The NBA is first and foremost an entertainment business. It thrives on ad revenue ultimately, and the ad companies need viewers. The NBA has a marketing strategy based on star players, especially when their flagship team The Lakers aren't that good. To go deep in the playoffs it helps your cause to have a compelling marketing story...usually a superstar people want to see for whatever reasons.
Toronto carries a whole nation on its back so it is going to be competitive.
Other than individual compelling stories, the NBA can sell Giannis to the European basketball community and thereby expand its market,
Therefore I summit that a good PR dept that enhances its players marketability is perhaps as important as the x and is.