My personal preference would be to go from 2 conferences with 3 divisions of 5 teams each to 0 conferences with 5 divisions of 6 teams each.

Atlantic: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards
Midwest: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves
Pacific: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings
Southeast: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis, Grizzlies, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic
Southwest: Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz

However, if they retain the current alignment structure, I would switch the Phoenix Suns (currently Pacific Division) with the Portland Trail Blazers (currently Northwest Division). I would then rename the Northwest Division to the Central Division and rename the Central Division to the Midwest Division. When the Seattle Sonics moved to Oklahoma City, Portland was left out on an island.

I actually presumed the division was called the Northwest Division because it had Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. However, Vancouver moved to Memphis while in the Midwest Division with Dallas, Denver, Houston, Minnesota, San Antonio, and Utah. Portland and Seattle were actually in the Pacific Division with the California teams and Phoenix.

The NBA will be at 32 within a few years. Once a new CBA is ratified, there should be a firm timeline on expansion.

Five divisions works great until the playoffs. The NBA would likely just seed the entire field 1-16, but that could cause logjams for TV (too many East Coast teams or too many West Coast teams playing at home on one night), and create lots of additional cross-country travel.

I too anticipate that the NBA will expand to 32 soon and that expansion will come in the West:

Atlantic: Boston, NY, Brooklyn, Toronto, Philadelphia (5)
Midwest: Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota (6)
Southeast: Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami (5)

Southwest: Memphis, New Orleans, OKC, SA, Dallas, Houston (6)
Pacific: LAL, LAC, Sacramento, Golden St, Phoenix (5)
Northwest: Portland, Utah, Denver, + 2 expansion teams (5)

At 32, I suspect Las Vegas and Seattle who will share arenas with the new NHL franchises.

Eastern Conference
Atlantic: Boston, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Washington
Midwest: Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Toronto

Western Conference
Central: Dallas, Denver, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Utah
Pacific: Golden State, Las Vegas, Los Angeles 1, Los Angeles 2, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Seattle

BP: that’s the EXACT alignment i predict.

At 32 teams, the mid-season tournament will likely cause every team playing home and away to be a thing of the past, unless of the season goes beyond 82 games.

I would almost prefer to see four conferences with "soft" divisions of four teams in each conference, which makes for a 72-game regular season:

48 games outside the conference (24 teams x 2 games)
24 games inside the conference (4 teams x 3 games; 3 teams x 4 games)

There would be eight groups of four teams, who play a double round-robin group stage for 6 games (3 home, 3 away), which makes for 78 games. The top 16 teams advance to the knockout round. Consolation rounds would guarantee everyone in the knockout round four games, for a 82-game schedule. Those who do not qualify for the knockout round play four additional games.

Eastern - Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Toronto, Philadelphia, Washington, Cleveland, Detroit

Central - Memphis, Indiana, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Utah, Denver

Southern - Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio

Western - Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Golden State, LA Clippers, LA Lakers, Las Vegas, Phoenix

With 32 teams & 4 divisions, my schedule would be:

Double h/h in division
H/h v everyone else

(05-13-2023 04:02 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  At 32 teams, the mid-season tournament will likely cause every team playing home and away to be a thing of the past, unless of the season goes beyond 82 games.

I would almost prefer to see four conferences with "soft" divisions of four teams in each conference, which makes for a 72-game regular season:

48 games outside the conference (24 teams x 2 games)
24 games inside the conference (4 teams x 3 games; 3 teams x 4 games)

There would be eight groups of four teams, who play a double round-robin group stage for 6 games (3 home, 3 away), which makes for 78 games. The top 16 teams advance to the knockout round. Consolation rounds would guarantee everyone in the knockout round four games, for a 82-game schedule. Those who do not qualify for the knockout round play four additional games.

Eastern - Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Toronto, Philadelphia, Washington, Cleveland, Detroit

Central - Memphis, Indiana, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Utah, Denver

Southern - Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio

Western - Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Golden State, LA Clippers, LA Lakers, Las Vegas, Phoenix

That Central division will had a ton of travel... eek.. At least Denver is a major hub but eek

How about 3 divisions

West-10
LAC, LAL, GS, Sac, LV,
PHX, Por, Sea, Utah, Den

Central-11
SA, Dal, Hou, OKC, NO, Mem,
Minn, Mil, Chi, Ind, Det,

East-11
Miami, ORL, Atl, Char, Wash, Phil,
NYK, BRK, Bos, Tor, Cle

Play everybody in your division 4 times and everybody else 2 times.

I really like that set up goof.

Would moving CLE to the Central to be with the other Midwest teams, & NO or MEM to the East to be w/ the FL teams & ATL work better?

(05-22-2023 06:15 PM)goofus Wrote:  How about 3 divisions

West-10
LAC, LAL, GS, Sac, LV,
PHX, Por, Sea, Utah, Den

Central-11
SA, Dal, Hou, OKC, NO, Mem,
Minn, Mil, Chi, Ind, Det,

East-11
Miami, ORL, Atl, Char, Wash, Phil,
NYK, BRK, Bos, Tor, Cle

Play everybody in your division 4 times and everybody else 2 times.

I like that set up a lot. They’d have to rethink the playoffs though. It’s kind of hard to pair the East Champs and West Champs when you’ve also got a Central. Maybe you just award the Conference titles to the teams who finish first in the regular season and for the playoffs you just give this 3 the top 3 seeds.

(05-22-2023 08:38 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  I really like that set up goof.

Would moving CLE to the Central to be with the other Midwest teams, & NO or MEM to the East to be w/ the FL teams & ATL work better?

Or go with North and South divisions.

North
NYK, BRK, Bos, Tor, Cle, Phil, Minn, Mil, Chi, Ind, Det

South
SA, Dal, Hou, OKC, NO, Mem, Miami, ORL, Atl, Char, Wash,