I found myself counting the seconds until the game tomorrow, so even though this isn't a big concern, it gave me something to do instead of stare at the clock. I hope this provides you a few minutes of distraction.
On the eve of the season I would like to point out a structural disadvantage of Portland basketball. It's basically the only thing we can complain about these days, so I thought I would do that before we starting winning. It doesn't seem like it would be that big of a deal to rearrange the divisions after the Sonics moved. So, I'd like to present 3 alternate division makeups. Please excuse my horrid "editing" of the pictures, I just wanted to include a visual aid to go along with the distance approximations I made. The distances listed are the mean of 1 way air travel between Portland, for example, and all of its division rivals.
Current:
Northwest Division:
Portland: 1128 miles
Minnesota: 892 miles
Denver: 628 miles
Utah: 700 miles
OKC: 907 miles
Div Average: 851 miles
Noteworthy: This division features the only 2 time zone difference (Pdx-Minn and Pdx-OKC) in the league.
Southwest Division:
Houston: 379 miles
San Antonio: 392 miles
New Orleans: 410 miles
Memphis: 500 miles
Dallas: 326 miles
Div. Average: 401 miles
Pacific Division:
L.A. L*kers: 267 miles
L.A. Clippers: 267 miles
Sacramento: 367 miles
Golden State: 354 miles
Phoenix: 500 miles
Div Average: 351 miles
Alternate 1:
Pacific Division:
Portland: 671 miles
L.A. L*kers: 387 miles
L.A. Clippers: 387 miles
Golden State: 328 miles
Sacramento: 326 miles
Div. average: 419 miles
Midwest Division:
Minnesota: 728 miles
Utah: 850 miles
Denver: 600 miles
OKC: 620 miles
Memphis: 800 miles
Div. Average: 719 miles
Southwest Division:
Phoenix: 1000 miles
San Antonio: 443 miles
Dallas: 438 miles
Houston: 508 miles
New Orleans: 625 miles
Div. Average: 602 miles
Alternate 2:
Northwest Division:
Portland: 660 miles
Golden State: 548 miles
Utah: 540 miles
Denver: 818 miles
Sacramento: 520 miles
Div. Average: 617 miles
Southwest Division:
L.A. L*kers: 730 miles
L.A. Clippers: 730 miles
Phoenix: 640 miles
San Antonio: 860 miles
Houston: 1061 miles
Div. Average: 804 miles
Midwest Division:
Dallas: 468 miles
OKC: 432 miles
Memphis: 487 miles
New Orleans: 594 miles
Minnesota: 817 miles
Div. Average: 560 miles
Alternate 3:
Pacific Division:
Portland: 671 miles
L.A. L*kers: 387 miles
L.A. Clippers: 387 miles
Golden State: 328 miles
Sacramento: 326 miles
Div. average: 419 miles
Midwest Division:
Phoenix: 911 miles
Denver: 530 miles
Utah: 670 miles
Minnesota: 860 miles
OKC: 750 miles
Div. Average: 744 miles
Southwest Division:
Houston: 379 miles
San Antonio: 392 miles
New Orleans: 410 miles
Memphis: 500 miles
Dallas: 326 miles
Div. Average: 401 miles
There are plenty of other things that should be considered other than just travel distance, like divison rivalries or division names that actually describe where its teams are located, but this post doesn't need to get any larger. Does Phoenix tend to get the short end of the stick? Is it even worth the trouble to rearrange the Western conference? Thoughts?