Kings could move to Seattle, How will WC divisions change?

[Bruno]

289078966055227393

It would be weird to have Portland in the Northwest division and Seattle in the Pacific division. I guess the NBA will change them. How will they change them and will Spurs division change?

[chapnis]

Dunno but this is great. I kinda missed the Sonics, and no one will miss the Kings, or the Maloofs.

[TampaDude]

Dunno but this is great. I kinda missed the Sonics, and no one will miss the Kings, or the Maloofs.

Yeah...I always liked the name Supersonics.

[Kermit]

Will Clay Bennett relesse the name?

[Seventyniner]

My take:
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207568&p=6274870#post6274870

At this point, all of the "Kevin Durant is the first franchise player since Gary Payton" to do such-and-such bullshit has to stop. When Oklahoma City got the Thunder, it was stipulated that the city of Seattle would keep all logos, colors, and franchise records. That way if they ever got an expansion team, it would be a continuation of the Sonics franchise. The Thunder should be treated as an expansion team.

I'm not sure how that will work since it's an existing team moving there. Whose records get kept?

[chapnis]

I'm sure they'll figure out a way to become the Sonics again, they have to.

[Chinook]

To answer your question, Bruno I don't think the Southwest will change. The NBA won't break up the Texas Three-Step, and Memphis and New Orleans aren't going to move to another division.

If it did, San Antonio would move to the Pacific, where honestly it has the best cultural fit. I don't see that, but Stern could try to sell fans the Lakers/Spurs rivalry being enhanced if they were in the same division. In that case, OKC would take the Spurs' spot, where they are also a better cultural fit. That would be interesting, as them with Houston and New Orleans can mean great divisional battles for a long time.

[Bruno]

After looking at it, there isn't an obvious answer but I will go with:

Pacific: Clippers, Lakers, Warriors, Blazers, Sonics.
Northwest: Jazz, Nuggets, Wolves, Thunder, Grizzlies.
Southwest: Spurs, Mavs, Rockets, Suns, Pelicans.

[td4mvp21]

Switch the Kings and Blazers?

[timvp]

After looking at it, there isn't an obvious answer but I will go with:

Pacific: Clippers, Lakers, Warriors, Blazers, Sonics.
Northwest: Jazz, Nuggets, Wolves, Thunder, Grizzlies.
Southwest: Spurs, Mavs, Rockets, Suns, Pelicans.

I'd switch the Jazz and the Suns. That'd make it more traditional. The Jazz belong in the same division with the Spurs, Rockets and Mavs ... it's just right.

[Shifty]

After looking at it, there isn't an obvious answer but I will go with:

Pacific: Clippers, Lakers, Warriors, Blazers, Sonics.
Northwest: Jazz, Nuggets, Wolves, Thunder, Grizzlies.
Southwest: Spurs, Mavs, Rockets, Suns, Pelicans.

That looks logical, maybe renaming the Northwest to something else, like midwest should improve this.

All Pacific teams are from states that have the ocean by their sides.
All Southwest are in the south border or the gulf.
Although all northwest teams are north of all southwest, calling Memphis and OKC north just doesn't sound right. Is there a more midwest-like in team in the East than the Wolves? Move them to KC or St. Louis and it would be perfect!

[timvp]

Worst case is if OKC is moved to the Southwest division...

[Kuestmaster]

why it can't stay the same that's now?

[Shifty]

why it can't stay the same that's now?
Then we couldn't have this thread.

[Obstructed_View]

Time to bring back the "midwest" name, tbh.

[Dex]

why it can't stay the same that's now?

Prob because Seattle is more north-westerly than Portland, which is in the Northwest division.

Still, they could just trade places with Portland.

Pacific:
L.A. Lakers
L.A. Clippers
Golden State
Phoenix
Portland

Northwest:
Oklahoma City
Utah
Denver
Seattle
Minnesota

[Dex]

Time to bring back the "midwest" name, tbh.

Not a bad idea.

Pacific:
Seattle
Portland
Lakers
Clippers
Golden State

Midwest:
Utah
Phoenix
Denver
Oklahoma City
Minnesota

[Dex]

Worst case is if OKC is moved to the Southwest division...

While OKC is damn close on the map, I don't see how they can do this without throwing everything out of whack.

As mentioned, they won't split up the three Texas teams. New Orleans and Memphis are both too far to east to fit into either of the other Western divisions.

Only way they could reasonably put OKC into the Southwest would be to move Memphis into the Eastern conference (where it probably actually belongs), but that would create a whole new set of problems to sort out.

[KaiRMD1]

Seattle has been begging for a team since the Sonics got taken away from them. This isn't that big a deal only because Cali already has three teams with two in the same city so yay for Seattle. Kings may become a force to be reckoned with now much like the Thunder.

[TimmehC]

After looking at it, there isn't an obvious answer but I will go with:

Pacific: Clippers, Lakers, Warriors, Blazers, Sonics.
Northwest: Jazz, Nuggets, Wolves, Thunder, Grizzlies.
Southwest: Spurs, Mavs, Rockets, Suns, Pelicans.

This alignment makes more sense than anything else, imo.

[Chinook]

If breaking up the T3S is an option, here would be my re-alignment:

Southwest:
Clippers
Lakers
Nuggets
Spurs
Suns

Deep South:
Grizzlies
Mavericks
Pelicans
Rockets
Thunder

Northwest:
Jazz
Supersonics
Timberwolves
Trailblazers
Warriors

If the Spurs were to move into the same division with the Lakers, Clippers and Suns, (and Denver, which has a much bigger latino population than people often realize) at least the noches latinas could pretty much be sequestered to one division. I think Houston and Dallas would fit in fine with other southern cities like Memphis, New Orleans and OKC. If you add in the liberal northwestern cities (and Minnesota), and you have three pretty well-balanced groups culturally. From a basketball perspective, however, the Northwest division would be really weak compared to the others.

[Cry Havoc]

Prob because Seattle is more north-westerly than Portland, which is in the Northwest division.

Still, they could just trade places with Portland.

Pacific:
L.A. Lakers
L.A. Clippers
Golden State
Phoenix
Portland

Northwest:
Oklahoma City
Utah
Denver
Seattle
Minnesota

:lol Oklahoma City in the "Northwest". :lol

[rascal]

I'd switch the Jazz and the Suns. That'd make it more traditional. The Jazz belong in the same division with the Spurs, Rockets and Mavs ... it's just right.

Switch the Thunder and Suns. The Thunder will have natural rivalries with their Texan neighbors.

[silverblackfan]

This is great news for us in Seattle. At least I get to see the Spurs locally 2 times a year. Visiting family in Texas to fit in a Spurs game was getting expensive...

[ffadicted]

Pacific: Blazers, Sonics, Warriors, Clippers, Lakers
Midwest: Suns, Jazz, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Thunder
Southwest: Spurs, Mavs, Rockets, Pelicans, Grizz

ggnore

[manu the best]

Oh boy I can't wait for the kings to move to Seattle. Hopefully the deal happens. I live in Vancouver, BC, Canada and I can finally get a chance to watch my SPURS play..

[urunobili]

Pacific: Blazers, Sonics, Warriors, Clippers, Lakers
Midwest: Suns, Jazz, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Thunder
Southwest: Spurs, Mavs, Rockets, Pelicans, Grizz

ggnore
This is the one that makes more sense geographically speaking :tu

[exstatic]

??? There will be no divisional changes. Sacto lives in the Pacific, and so will the new Sonics.

The only change that would make any sense would be to swap PHO and POR. That makes all Pacific teams PST, and takes the NW division down from three time zones to two, leaving the SW intact. There must have been some reason that the NBA had PHO in the Pacific and Portland in the NW. Maybe TV or some shit, so everything will likely remain as is.

[Drom John]

Old Washington Senators records stayed with the Twins.
New Washington Senators records went with the Rangers.

Nickname does not equal franchise. Insisting that the new Sonics get the old Sonics records logically requires the new Sonics to get the Thunder roster.

Back to topic, I'd like New Orleans and Memphis to move to the Eastern Conference, with Milwaukee an Chicago moving West.

[Shifty]

This might be useful:

http://www.singleblackmale.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/NBA-Map.png

EDIT:
Ha! After 5 minutes of counting and recounting I kept one team missing and couldn't figure it out. The Raptors!

[lurker23]

??? There will be no divisional changes. Sacto lives in the Pacific, and so will the new Sonics.

The only change that would make any sense would be to swap PHO and POR. That makes all Pacific teams PST, and takes the NW division down from three time zones to two, leaving the SW intact. There must have been some reason that the NBA had PHO in the Pacific and Portland in the NW. Maybe TV or some shit, so everything will likely remain as is.

Portland in the NW made more sense when they had a Pacific Northwest partner in the Sonics, and they didn't want to break up the 4 California teams (LA/LA/Golden State/Sacramento). If this goes through and there are only 3 California teams, I think the trade that you mentioned of Portland and Phoenix will happen, putting all the true West Coast teams in one division.

[Budkin]

Will Clay Bennett relesse the name?

I believe the city was allowed to keep its colors and names. However the bastard stole their trophy and banner.

[exstatic]

Old Washington Senators records stayed with the Twins.
New Washington Senators records went with the Rangers.

Nickname does not equal franchise. Insisting that the new Sonics get the old Sonics records logically requires the new Sonics to get the Thunder roster.
The Sonics legacy was part of the agreement with the Thunder to allow the move. There is sports precedence with the Browns keeping all of their records and trademarks, copyrights, colors, etc.

Back to topic, I'd like New Orleans and Memphis to move to the Eastern Conference, with Milwaukee an Chicago moving West.

Look at a map. Memphis and NO are both on the Mississippi river, which is clearly WEST of Lake Michigan, where Milwaukee and Chicago border. Makes no sense at all to move teams that are further west into the EC and two teams further east into the WC. The conferences are split geographically correctly as is. That would also fuck over the Spurs, replacing two cities about 60-90 minutes flying time away with two cities about 2 1/2 to 3 hours flying time away.

[TDMVPDPOY]

who gives a shit, kings or seatle whatever its called will still be fodder team....

would still play the same amount of games against them anyway