NBA expansion possibilities

[DNatagal]

Word on the street is that the NBA will be adding 2 new franchises in the near future. Seattle and Las Vegas are by far the leaders at this point. This will probably mean a change in conference for 2 teams from the current Western conference get shifted to the Eastern.

With all that, Minnesota, Memphis, and New Orleans are 3 teams that are closer to the East than the West. Would you want the Timberwolves to be moved to the East and why?

[Q-is-here]

I would absolutely want Minnesota to move to the East. It has historically been the easier conference plus they can develop some real rivalries with the likes of Milwaukee and Chicago, where the states have plenty of rivalries in other sports.

[KG4Ever]

No, I personally prefer they stay in the West. I don't know if the West will be the toughest conference in the future, as the top of the East looks pretty formidable, but I prefer Wolves being in the toughest conference. I also have rooted for the West vs the East team in the finals every year and changing conferences would go against my preference for West dominance that is pretty ingrained in me since the Wolves franchise started.

[WallyBall]

As Q stated, it would be fun to have rivalries with Milwaukee and Chicago rather than Denver, Sacramento, or Utah. Let’s move East!

[DNatagal]

I would welcome the move to lessen the travel burden and create local rivalries. Plus I live in the East, so having them travel close to me makes me happy.

[KG4Ever]

I live in the West, so I really would hate it if the Wolves went East. Plus, Memphis is further east if they need to move a team to the East. They also might not need to move any existing teams if they expand to Seattle and add the other franchise in the east (some candidates would include, Baltimore, Montreal, Louisville, Cincinnati and Tampa which are clearly eastern teams, plus St. Louis which is another Mississipi River team like us, Memphis, and New Orleans which geographically could fit in either conference).

[kekgeek]

I live in the West, so I really would hate it if the Wolves went East. Plus, Memphis is further east if they need to move a team to the East. They also might not need to move any existing teams if they expand to Seattle and add the other franchise in the east (some candidates would include, Baltimore, Montreal, Louisville, Cincinnati and Tampa which are clearly eastern teams, plus St. Louis which is another Mississipi River team like us, Memphis, and New Orleans which geographically could fit in either conference).

If Vegas and Seattle join the league I’ll be shocked if the wolves don’t join the east. No teams travel would be effected more in a positive way than the wolves. Just makes way to much logical sense

[Phenom]

It will most certainly be the Wolves that switch based on proximity to other teams. Memphis and New Orleans may be further East but are in reasonable distance with other Western Conference teams.

[KG4Ever]

I live in the West, so I really would hate it if the Wolves went East. Plus, Memphis is further east if they need to move a team to the East. They also might not need to move any existing teams if they expand to Seattle and add the other franchise in the east (some candidates would include, Baltimore, Montreal, Louisville, Cincinnati and Tampa which are clearly eastern teams, plus St. Louis which is another Mississipi River team like us, Memphis, and New Orleans which geographically could fit in either conference).

If Vegas and Seattle join the league I’ll be shocked if the wolves don’t join the east. No teams travel would be effected more in a positive way than the wolves. Just makes way to much logical sense

Why Vegas? Vegas market is tiny compared to St. Louis, Montreal, Baltimore, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Cincinnati. I wouldn't assume Vegas is the second choice, but I guess they might leap frog bigger markets because of LeBron's interest there.

The Big Ten has teams from both the pacific coast and the east coast, I don't think travel distance is necessarily the main decider and schedules pretty much ensure that you see each team twice anyway.

[KG4Ever]

I am not even sure the travel argument favors Minnesota as Memphis appears closer to more Eastern Conference teams. Based on driving distance, Milwaukee, Chicago, Toronto and Detroit are closer to Minnesota than Memphis. The other 11 East coast conference teams are closer to Memphis based on driving distance.