FanPost

Realignment of the Western Conference

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:

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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:

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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:

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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: 

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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?