NBA Conference Re-Alignment Is a Must

Organization- Non-random arrangement 

of components or parts interconnected

in a manner as to constitute a system 

identifiable as a unit.

My Personal Suggestion for an antonym- The National Basketball Association.

Let Me explain.

There are 30 teams in the NBA. Teams that reside on the East coast should play in the eastern conference right?

Wrong.

Here is the current conference situation in the NBA.

Western Conference- Denver, Oklahoma City, Portland, Minnesota, Los Angeles (Lakers), Phoenix, Los Angeles (Clippers), Sacramento, Golden State, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, and Memphis.

Eastern Conference- Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Indiana, Orlando, Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, and Washington.

As you could Probably tell, There are some issues revolving the placement of a few teams. For instance, both New Orleans and Memphis are in the the East coast, So essentially either team is playing on a cross country road trip every time they are on the Road.

Now, there are multiple issues this causes for both the league and individual team. 

Let's start off with travel expenses

The League implemented a "green" road trip plan this season. The Goal was to lower emissions and lessen the financial burden on the traveling team. They did this by shortening the road trips, but forcing more games into less time on the road. Financially speaking, any team that has to travel cross country to play a team in their conference will bear a larger financial burden than that of a team in the correct conference.

Tired Legs

Four games in five nights is difficult on the body and eight game rodeo trips are strenuous as well, but each are magnified when the league is trying mold their image.

As you may be able to imagine, by personal experience or stories, it is difficult to sleep on an air plane.

Lets look at the Memphis Grizzlies upcoming games.

They play Phoenix at home, then they travel to Toronto, then back home to play the Miami heat, traveling to New Jersey the next night then back home to play the Lakers, they take on Washington on the road back home to Play Portland then at New Orleans and at Chicago.

That is 9,093 miles in 19 days. Which is an issue that could have been made easier if the league would re-align the system.

Money, Money, Money

American Sports are built on proximity rivalries, But if you have team in the western conference that resides in the Eastern Conference, It makes it difficult to built rivalries. People tune in to see how the local teams are doing. I live in Portland, so when the Sonics had a team in Seattle I would constantly tune in to make sure they were losing. 

The point being that people are more likely to watch a game if they are closer to them distance wise. The Average sports fan has to have a reason to invest their time into a game. Once they invest their time, they could become a fan and invest more time into your franchise. A fan that cares more will spend more to watch the team they care about.

With all that said, this is what I believe the Divisions should look like...

Western Conference:

Pacific Division-

Lakers, Portland, Golden State, Clippers, Sacramento

Southwest Division-

Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Phoenix, New Orleans

Central Division (West)-

Utah, Denver, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Bulls

Eastern Conference:

Atlantic Division-

Boston, Knicks, New Jersey, Washington, Philadelphia 

Southeast Division-

Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, Memphis, Charlotte

Central Division (East)-

Bucks, Pacers, Cavaliers, Detroit, Toronto

That's what I think, but obviously there are a few issues that would need to be perfected.

One way to make all things well would be to expand the League, but right now that is not a financially viable option. Maybe we will see this in the near future, but as of right now, the Association seems to be a bit unorganized.