RE: NBA to 32
Maybe the correct answer is to go to 31:
Pacific - POR, GSW, SAC, LAL, LAC, PHX, SEA
Western - UTH, DEN, SAS, HOU, DAL, OKC
Central - MIN, MIL, CHI, IND, DET, CLE
Southern - NOP, MEM, CLT, ATL, ORL, MIA
Eastern - TOR, WAS, PHI, NYK, BKN, BOS
Everyone plays teams from the other divisions twice (56-58 games). The divisions with six teams have their members play each other 4 or 5 times for 24 games, and the division with seven teams has its members play each other 4 times for 24 games, bringing everyone to 82 games.
The all-star game would stay with the captains format.
Every division champion is guaranteed home court advantage for the first round and would be seeded no worse than eighth. This also guarantees the league's TV partners that two of the eight series will have games outside the Eastern Time Zone. Given that 18 of the 31 teams are outside the Eastern Time Zone, the worst case scenario of having six series played entirely on Eastern Time would be highly improbable.
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