Tuesday, February 8, 2011

NBA Should Move Blazers to Pacific Division


Just a thought.


I think the NBA should look at some realignment. With the Seattle SuperSonics now residing in Oklahoma City as the Thunder, I think the NBA can do a little switcheroo.

Why not move the Portland Trail Blazers to the Pacific Division and move the Phoenix Suns to a "Midwest" Division?

Portland was a Pacific Division staple until the NBA went to a six-division format a few years ago. The Blazers, along with nearby Seattle, were placed in the new Northwest Division with Denver, Minnesota and Utah. It seemed like a good fit at the time.

But with Seattle out of the picture, shouldn't we put Portland ... which lies on the Pacific coast ... in the Pacific Division? Put them with the Lakers, Clippers, Warriors and Kings.To make room, move the Suns to a revamped Midwest Division. It's stupid to have a Northwest Division when Oklahoma City is one of the occupants. So call it the Midwest and have Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Utah, Denver and Minnesota involved.

Look, this is really all window dressing. The division format is nothing more than a show to have six teams feeling as if they won something. In reality, the NBA basically is made up of two conferences. Teams within the division play each other nearly the same amount of times so moving teams really won't affect travel or, like the Dallas Stars of the NHL, won't create bad television times.

Still, it would make a bit more sense.

WESTERN CONFERENCE
SOUTHWEST: Dallas, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, San Antonio
MIDWEST: Denver, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Utah
PACIFIC: Golden State, LA Clippers, LA Lakers, Portland, Sacramento

Don't get me wrong; the best thing to do is just dump those divisional format and just have a 15-team Eastern and Western Conference. In reality, that's what we already have. Your division affiliation is meaningless.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Geography doesn't seem to matter in sports nowdays.