They could keep things relatively simple with the 32 team expansion:

Slide MIN over w/ the Midwest teams

Move OKC to the Southwest

SEA & LV join PDX, UTA, & DEN in the Northwest

Moving to 8 divisions would be an entirely different animal and open all sorts of possibilities. My best stab:

NE: BOS, BKN, NYK, PHI
ME: TOR, CLE, DET, WAS
SE: CLT, ATL, ORL, MIA
MW: IND, CHI, MIL, MIN

SW: NO, HOU, DAL, SA
CEN: MEM, OKC, DEN, UTA
NW: SEA, PDX*, SAC, GS
PAC: LV*, PHX, LAL, LAC

I prefer 4 divisions, division winners get top 2 seeds.

(08-11-2026 10:03 AM)Erictelevision Wrote:  I prefer 4 divisions, division winners get top 2 seeds.

You can easily convert by 8 divisions by combining:

NE & ME

SE & SW

CEN & MW

PAC & NW

4 x 8 can also be achieved by:

Atlantic: TOR, BOS, NYK, BKN, PHI, WAS, CLT, ATL
Midwest: CLE, DET, IND, CHI, MIL, MIN, ORL, MIA

Central: MEM, NO, HOU, SA, DAL, OKC, DEN, UTA
Pacific: SEA, PDX, GS, SAC, LAL, LAC, LV, PHX

The Atlantic is all on Eastern time.
The Midwest is 5 eastern/ 3 Central
The Central is 6 central/ 2 MTN
The Pacific is all on Pacific part of the season, except for outside DST, when PHX is on MTN.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic: Boston, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Washington

Midwest: Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Toronto

Western Conference

Pacific: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Golden State, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Seattle

Southwest: Dallas, Denver, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Utah

Eastern Conference

Atlantic: Boston, Brooklyn, New York, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington, Toronto

Mideast: Atlanta, Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Charlotte, Miami, Orlando

Western Conference

Pacific: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Golden State, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Seattle

Southwest: Dallas, Denver, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Utah

I think it makes more sense to keep the more historic Northeast and Midwest teams together and divide the 4 newer southeastern teams (CLT, ATL, ORL, & MIA) between the two, similar to the approach that the NHL took.

One thing with eight team divisions is that a 4-3-2 schedule isn't possible in an 82 game schedule.

7 division opponents x 4 games = 28 games
8 conference opponents x 3 games = 24 games
16 non-conference opponents x 2 games = 32 games

Which makes a total of 84 games, and that's before the NBA Cup. There is no appetite to lengthen the regular season.

Larger divisions means everyone doesn't play each other home-and-away, or the NBA has to move to 4 conferences. Going to 4 conferences would make a 76 game schedule with a 4-2 split.

(08-12-2026 07:16 AM)chargeradio Wrote:  One thing with eight team divisions is that a 4-3-2 schedule isn't possible in an 82 game schedule.

7 division opponents x 4 games = 28 games
8 conference opponents x 3 games = 24 games
16 non-conference opponents x 2 games = 32 games

Which makes a total of 84 games, and that's before the NBA Cup. There is no appetite to lengthen the regular season.

Larger divisions means everyone doesn't play each other home-and-away, or the NBA has to move to 4 conferences. Going to 4 conferences would make a 76 game schedule with a 4-2 split.

Simple fix—

Play division mates x5 = 35 games
Play everyone else x2 = 48 games

That’s 83 games — just 1 more than now.

OK, a do over based on the alignment 30 years ago

Eastern Conference

Atlantic: Boston, Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Toronto, Miami, Orlando

Central: Atlanta, Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit

* Toronto moves to the Atlantic to accommodate Minnesota moving from the Western Conference.

Western Conference

Pacific: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Golden State, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Seattle

Midwest: Dallas, Denver, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Utah

* Pacific adds Las Vegas, Midwest adds New Orleans. Grizzlies were in the Midwest while in Vancouver.

I’m with Muskie. Perfect set up.

Since the NBA schedules 80 games then adds the other two after the NBA Cup.

division 7 x 4 games = 28 games
conference 4 x 3 games + 4 x 2 games = 20 games (rotate)
non-conference 16 x 2 games = 32 games

(08-13-2026 07:06 PM)Erictelevision Wrote:  I’m with Muskie. Perfect set up.

Which one?