I don't think one could possibly come up with a system less sane than the present NBA Eastern Conference/Western Conference, multiple division mess. Portland being in the same division as Minnesota and Memphis?? Has anyone in the NBA office ever looked at a map? And you'd have to say that the whole Leastern Conference mess is a millstone around NBA marketing. Having only two decent teams in the East while the West has to leave out decent teams from the playoffs every year is pathetic. I put together a map that shows what seems to me to be a more logical system. The map shows team cities by population density and also shows time zones. Instead of the present system of 2 conferences with 3 divisions each, it seems to me that having just 4 divisions makes a lot more sense. The teams within each division would all be within one time zone of each other. The scheduling would provide for teams within each division to play each other 4 times each season. Eastern and Western teams would play each other twice, as they do now. Central and Southwestern teams would be scheduled with Eastern and Western teams 2 or 3 times as needed to fill out the same 82 game schedule. Each division would hold its own playoff involving its top 4 teams, From there the playoffs between the division would be determined by team record, with the Division champ with the best record playing the one with the worst and the 2 middle teams playing each other. The winners of those series would meet for the championship. This seems to me like a system that would help build regional rivalries, reduce travel, and would result in a more interesting playoff format. I don't know if the NBA would ever think about changing its present system, but it's good for message board discussion. What have I missed here?
You're such a fucking idiot (but I love you man). Those aren't mountains, they represent population density (aka: big cities). #brain, #commonsense BNM
I think we should just revise completely and make a northern conference and a southern conference. That way the bad teams are pretty evenly distributed between both conferences and it does a little better job of balancing out the amount of travel everyone has to do.
Nice proposal, just one minor quibble. Memphis is not in the same division as Portland. I do agree that it's ridiculous that we don't have another team in our division that's in the same time zone as us - and half our division "rivals" are two time zones away. That would be like Boston being in the same division as Denver and Salt Lake City. BNM
It's logical, but with 30 teams (instead of 32) you end up with an unequal distribution in a 4 way split (7 and 8 teams respectively). Maybe that doesn't matter, but it seems like it could create a competitive imbalance when it comes to scheduling. Either way, I do agree that some kind of realignment makes sense.
Charlotte hasn't been much of a draw, but Sacramento has a pretty dedicated fan base. Can't imagine the NBA contracting that team right after the big push to get a new arena and keep the team in town.
I agree that 28 or 32 teams would be neater, but I'm not sure it matters that much. Adding a team in Seattle and no king Denver to the Southwest would solve part of that issue.
I agree with the broader premise, but I think there's probably a way to retain a six division split. Based on this in your original post: The real goal is to restore competitive balance through realignment. Unfortunately this would only put a temporary Bandaid on the problem; there's a sort of hidden side effect of years of the lottery system at play here. Somewhat paradoxically, because the bottom 7 teams in the East and the West get slotted into the lottery, a lot of the time teams in the East with worse records than many Western non-playoff teams are going to the playoffs and pick later than "better" teams. Over time there's a cumulative talent drain favoring the West as teams with near .500 records pick 12th - 14th and .400 teams end up slotted 15-19th. Slot teams according to their record and reduce the lottery pool down to the 5 or 6 truly awful teams and I think you'd see competitive balance restored over time. Tanking might still be a problem, but there's gotta be a better way than the current system.
I read somewhere someone arguing that the US doesn't need 4 timezones and that two makes a lot more sense. Combine that plan with your redistricting and the world is a better place.
I've gone through this so many times for years and it's something that I don't get at all, as to why the conferences have not been adjusted to stop screwing Portland. Why the 5 team in the Pacific time zone are not in the same division is complete BS.
