My hunches are that the NBA will expand. I truly think that they are riding high with this year's playoffs. My guesses are that Vegas and Kansas City will get the 2 expansion bids. I also think that Oklahoma City will keep the Hornets. That will make it easy for Memphis to go to the east.

I don't think that there will be 8 divisions of 4 like the NFL has. I think that there will be 4 divisions of 8:

EAST: NY NJ PHI BOS TOR WAS ORL MIA
MIDWEST: CHI CLE MIL DET IND MEM CAR ATL

SOUTH WEST: OKC KC MIN SA HOU DAL DEN UTAH
WEST: LAL LAC GS SAC SEA POR PHO LV

Any thoughts?

Returning back to 2 divisions per conference? how will it affect the scheduling format, unless it will go on a 84-game season. lol

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Florida State Seminole fan for life (mostly on football, basketball and baseball)!

Good point. I tried running some numbers. If a team plays the other 7 teams in its division 4 times that is 28 games. If it plays the other 24 teams twice that is 48 games. We are now sitting at 76 games. I don't know how to schedule the final 6 games.

I still think that the NBA will expand. Do you think that they will go to an NFL 8x4 alignment?

Maybe the NBA will go to an NFL 8x4 alignment if they add 2 more franchises for a total of 32 teams. The same goes for the NHL.




P.S.: In my own Quote, you can see what I mean.

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Florida State Seminole fan for life (mostly on football, basketball and baseball)!

So if KC and OKC both get teams, should Memphis, Minnesota, or New Orleans move to the Eastern Conference?

If you do 8 x 4, I think Minnesota gets the nod to move to the East, since it makes for cleaner divisions in the Eastern Conference:

Southwest - PHX, DAL, SA, HOU
Midwest - MN/MEM, KC, OKC, NO/MEM
Northwest - SEA, POR, UT, DEN
Pacific - LAL, LAC, GS, SAC

Atlantic - WAS, NJ, NY, BOS
Southeast - ATL, MIA, ORL, CHA
Northeast - PHI, TOR, DET, CLE
Central - CHI, MIL, IN, MEM/NO/MN

If you do 6 divisions, there's little symmetry, but more flexibility:

Southwest - NO, MEM, OKC, DAL, SA, HOU
Pacific - GS, SAC, LAL, LAC, PHX
Northwest - UT, DEN, SEA, POR, KC (MN if NO or MEM goes to the East)

Central - MIL, CHI, IND, CLE, DET (MN if MEM or NO stays in the West)
Atlantic - TOR, NY, NJ, BOS, PHI
Southeast - MIA, ORL, ATL, CHA, WAS (MEM or NO if MN stays in the West)

It seems like a good time to draw up another scenario.

Point: with Seattle no longer hosting a franchise, it seems time to drop the "Northwest" division name and pair Portland with the other 4 West Coast cities:

NORTHEAST DIVISION:
Boston Celtics
New Jersey Nets
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers
Toronto Raptors

CENTRAL DIVISION:
Cleveland Cavaliers
Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers
Chicago Bulls
Milwaukee Bucks

SOUTHEAST DIVISION:
Washington Wizards
Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Bobcats
Miami Heat
Orlando Magic



WEST:

MOUNTAIN DIVISION:
Denver Nuggets
Utah Jazz
Phoenix Suns
Oklahoma City Thunder
Minnesota Timberwolves

SOUTHWEST DIVISION:
Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets
San Antonio Spurs
New Orleans Hornets
Memphis Grizzlies

PACIFIC DIVISION:
Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Portland TrailBlazers
Sacramento Kings

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There is some noise about Sacramento or Toronto moving to Louisville.

If Sacramento moves to Louisville:

West
Pacific - Portland, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Golden State, Phoenix
Northwest - Utah, Denver, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City
Southwest - Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Memphis, New Orleans

East
Southeast - Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington
Northeast - Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Brooklyn, Toronto
Central - Louisville, Indiana, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland

If Toronto moves to Louisville:

West - unchanged

East
Southeast - Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Louisville
Atlantic - Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Brooklyn, Washington
Central - Milwaukee, Indiana, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland

A Facebook page has been setup regarding the Kings:

http://www.facebook.com/louisvillekings

It's been three years since the last NBA game in Seattle, 10 since the last in Vancouver, and we still have a couple of teams out of place in their divisions.

My proposal is to go to 6 divisions of 6 teams each, with 2 new teams established each year for three straight years.

The final alignment should look like this:

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Boston
New Jersey
New York
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh*
Toronto

Central Division
Chicago
Cleveland
Detroit
Indiana
Milwaukee
Minnesota (moved from Northwest Division)

Southeast Division
Atlanta
Charlotte
Miami
Orlando
Tampa Bay*
Washington

Western Conference
Northwest Division
Alberta* (home games split between Calgary and Edmonton)
Denver
Portland
Seattle*
Utah
Vancouver*

Pacific Division
Golden State
LA Clippers
LA Lakers
Phoenix
Sacramento
San Diego*

Southwest Division
Dallas
Houston
Memphis
New Orleans
Oklahoma City (moved from Northwest Division)
San Antonio

It looks like the Hornets will be staying in New Orleans:

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/08/25/new- ... index.html

My Dream NBA

West

California:
L.A Clippers
Sacramento
L.A Lakers
Golden State

Mountain West:
Phenoix
Portland
Utah
Denver

Southwest:
San A
O.C
Houston
Dallas

Mississippi River:
New Orleans
St. Louis Archers*
Memphis
Minnesota

EAST

Great Lakes:
Milwaukee
Chicago
Kentucky Colonels*(Louisville)
Indiana

Southeastern:
Miami
Orlando
Atlanta
Charoltte

Mid Eastern:
Cleveland
Detroit
Washington
Philly

Northeastern:
NY Knicks
Brooklyn Nets
Boston
Toronto

Also you can't have both a Tampa team and Orlando Team-My Opinion

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RODGERS
MATHEWS
2012

This thread doesn't seem to get a lot of action but perhaps I can breathe some life into it. With an arena deal going through in Seattle I think the Sonics most definitely need to be revived as an expansion franchise. To balance things out at 32 I would place another expansion team in Kansas City in the Sprint Center since it is NBA ready.

As for divisions, I would move the Timberwolves into the Eastern Conference and that central division with Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Detroit, and Cleveland. This makes a ton of since. The Bucks and Wolves are natural geographic rivals.

In the West I would add both expansion franchises to the Northwest Division. It would have Seattle, Portland, Utah, Denver, Oklahoma City, and Kansas City.

Word is the Kings were sold to some dude from Seattle and that they'll be moving north. This is good news for Larry Ellison who has wanted to bring an NBA team to the South Bay for some time. I doubt the NBA would have allowed three teams in N. California, but if the Kings leave Sacramento maybe they would allow an expansion team to play at the HP Pavilion.

I'd like to see the NBA go to 32 with 4 divisions by adding San Jose and Virginia Beach or Pittsburgh

Something to be said about this: I really do believe that, when the Maloofs tried to move to Anaheim last year, there was a trend to be had. If the NBA didn't prove to protect territories, I think you were going to see more teams in the big 3-6 markets... or the 2nd concept the Maloofs tried to pursue with Virginia Beach, where they'd own the market.

OTHERWISE, I would dismiss the notion that the NBA would move into NHL arenas off hand.

Only 9 NHL teams share arenas... with 10 NBA teams (Staples Center has the 2-and-1 combo). 8 of those are in the 12 LARGEST markets. Denver usually has one of the teams on the rise and one of the teams in the tank. When Pepsi Center opened, the Avalanche were on a roll and the Nuggets were in the outhouse. Those roles have reversed.

My point here: while I do suspect the Maloofs are about to- VERY reluctantly- give up the ghost and sell the Kings to the Seattle owners, I think there will be rethink about bringing in the NHL. Seattle's market is substantially larger than Denver's, so it's not out of the realm of possibility, but I have my doubts.

I don't think the NBA will expand. There's already a dilution and a lot more empty seats than advertised. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a contraction. However, if the enterprising politician wants to make things interesting, I wonder what would happen if Congress gave the NBA an anti-trust exemption in exchange for (1) standards by which public funding of arenas is limited, and (2) requirement of promotion and relegation with at least a 2nd division established. I think of that because there are several similar-sized arenas that don't have NBA but easily could approximate some current markets, and this may also be the last best way to protect the "good markets" (LA, Boston, etc.) that draw actual TV interest.

Stern guaranteed expansion was coming to Europe just the other day. Don't be surprised if the NBA has a lot more teams in 20 years.

Eastern Conference
Atlantic - Boston, Brooklyn, NY, Philly, DC, ATL, Orlando, Miami MOVE Charlotte to STL or KC
Midwest - Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota, MOVE Charlotte to STL or KC

Western Conference
Southwest - Utah, DEN OKC, DAL, SAT, HOU, NOLA, MEM
Pacific - PHX, LAC, LAL, Golden State, SAC, PORT, ADD SEA & Vegas or SD

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Fan of the Big 12 Conference, the Mountain West Conference and...