Expansion/Re-Alignment

[Donoghus]

The NBA Board of Governors has unanimously approved the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers to a group led by Dallas businessman Tom Dundon, a league source told The Athletic. The deal is structured at an approximate total value of $4.25 billion.

The transaction ends the Allen family's ownership era dating to 1988. It is structured in two stages: an 80.1 percent stake closes March 31 at a $4 billion valuation, with the remaining 19.9 percent closing no later than September 1, 2028, at a $4.5 billion valuation. During the interim period, former Blazers chairman Bert Kolde will observe board meetings without governance authority.

Makes the expansion fees even weirder.

How did they get Portland so cheap?

Small TV market and an outdated arena in need of major upgrades>

[Moranis]

The NBA Board of Governors has unanimously approved the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers to a group led by Dallas businessman Tom Dundon, a league source told The Athletic. The deal is structured at an approximate total value of $4.25 billion.

The transaction ends the Allen family's ownership era dating to 1988. It is structured in two stages: an 80.1 percent stake closes March 31 at a $4 billion valuation, with the remaining 19.9 percent closing no later than September 1, 2028, at a $4.5 billion valuation. During the interim period, former Blazers chairman Bert Kolde will observe board meetings without governance authority.

Makes the expansion fees even weirder.

How did they get Portland so cheap?

Small TV market and an outdated arena in need of major upgrades>

Yeah, I'd much rather have a team in Vegas or even Seattle than Portland.

[radiohead]

The NBA Board of Governors has unanimously approved the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers to a group led by Dallas businessman Tom Dundon, a league source told The Athletic. The deal is structured at an approximate total value of $4.25 billion.

The transaction ends the Allen family's ownership era dating to 1988. It is structured in two stages: an 80.1 percent stake closes March 31 at a $4 billion valuation, with the remaining 19.9 percent closing no later than September 1, 2028, at a $4.5 billion valuation. During the interim period, former Blazers chairman Bert Kolde will observe board meetings without governance authority.

Makes the expansion fees even weirder.

How did they get Portland so cheap?

So is that 3 teams now that changed ownership this season? Boston, LAL, and now Portland.

[aefgogreen]

did the owners vote yet?

[Celtics2021]

did the owners vote yet?

They voted to start the process but there are several steps over the next year or so before it becomes something that will definitely happen.

[dannyboy35]

  The last thing the nba needs is two more teams. Unless you have every team make the playoffs but the 17-32 seeds play for a lesser trophy. Shorten the regular season and have more televised playoff games? I dunno.

[Moranis]

I was thinking about how they can make the end of the season more interesting and after expansion to 32, and I think something like this could work.

No divisions, just 2 conferences

Play other conference 2 games - 32 total

Play your conference 3 games - 45 total

The last 5 games of the year are flex games where teams are grouped by tier.  So after 77 games you group 1-6 in conference together and 7-12 together.  They then play 1 game against every team in their tier.  The bottom 4 teams from each conference also are grouped together with the bottom 4 from the other conference such that you play 5 of the 7 other teams.  Your seeding can change, but you cannot change tiers.  The bottom 8 teams all have the same lottery odds so losing makes no difference at that point.   

So everyone still plays 82 games, but now the first 77 everyone in the conference has the same schedule and the last 5 games teams of similar quality and status are playing to hopefully add some excitement and more interest leading into the playoffs.

[Roy H.]

I was thinking about how they can make the end of the season more interesting and after expansion to 32, and I think something like this could work.

No divisions, just 2 conferences

Play other conference 2 games - 32 total

Play your conference 3 games - 45 total

The last 5 games of the year are flex games where teams are grouped by tier.  So after 77 games you group 1-6 in conference together and 7-12 together.  They then play 1 game against every team in their tier.  The bottom 4 teams from each conference also are grouped together with the bottom 4 from the other conference such that you play 5 of the 7 other teams.  Your seeding can change, but you cannot change tiers.  The bottom 8 teams all have the same lottery odds so losing makes no difference at that point.   

So everyone still plays 82 games, but now the first 77 everyone in the conference has the same schedule and the last 5 games teams of similar quality and status are playing to hopefully add some excitement and more interest leading into the playoffs.

I don't hate this idea.  At least it's creative.  I assume teams would rotate each reason regarding who gets 2 home games, versus one. 

I think an impediment would be the last minute scheduling, particularly for those teams that play in dual purpose arenas.  For instance, TD Garden not only is home to the Bruins, but they host a lot of concerts and other events.  It's hard to keep open dates. 

And, the loss of divisions would be a little weird, but truthfully, they don't add that much.

[wdleehi]

I was thinking about how they can make the end of the season more interesting and after expansion to 32, and I think something like this could work.

No divisions, just 2 conferences

Play other conference 2 games - 32 total

Play your conference 3 games - 45 total

The last 5 games of the year are flex games where teams are grouped by tier.  So after 77 games you group 1-6 in conference together and 7-12 together.  They then play 1 game against every team in their tier.  The bottom 4 teams from each conference also are grouped together with the bottom 4 from the other conference such that you play 5 of the 7 other teams.  Your seeding can change, but you cannot change tiers.  The bottom 8 teams all have the same lottery odds so losing makes no difference at that point.   

So everyone still plays 82 games, but now the first 77 everyone in the conference has the same schedule and the last 5 games teams of similar quality and status are playing to hopefully add some excitement and more interest leading into the playoffs.

They would probably just make the 5 other games the mid-season tournament.   

[Who]

I like 4 divisions of 8 teams.

The divisions in the 1990s were good. Competitive. It meant something to win the division. I was impressed when San Antonio won their Midwest Division or Orlando their Atlantic division. It was a quality achievement. Especially for teams who do not have loads of Championships like Boston or LAL do.

[Moranis]

I was thinking about how they can make the end of the season more interesting and after expansion to 32, and I think something like this could work.

No divisions, just 2 conferences

Play other conference 2 games - 32 total

Play your conference 3 games - 45 total

The last 5 games of the year are flex games where teams are grouped by tier.  So after 77 games you group 1-6 in conference together and 7-12 together.  They then play 1 game against every team in their tier.  The bottom 4 teams from each conference also are grouped together with the bottom 4 from the other conference such that you play 5 of the 7 other teams.  Your seeding can change, but you cannot change tiers.  The bottom 8 teams all have the same lottery odds so losing makes no difference at that point.   

So everyone still plays 82 games, but now the first 77 everyone in the conference has the same schedule and the last 5 games teams of similar quality and status are playing to hopefully add some excitement and more interest leading into the playoffs.

They would probably just make the 5 other games the mid-season tournament.

Possibly, but I think ramping up into the post season and eliminating the need to tank the last 5 games, is better for the sport.

[Moranis]

I like 4 divisions of 8 teams.

The divisions in the 1990s were good. Competitive. It meant something to win the division. I was impressed when San Antonio won their Midwest Division or Orlando their Atlantic division. It was a quality achievement. Especially for teams who do not have loads of Championships like Boston or LAL do.

I thought about that, but how do you make the schedule work

32 - other conference
24 - other division
28 - your division

That is 84 games.  I can't see them adding 2 games and I don't see how to make the math work any other way.

If you went with 4 team divisions you could do this and kept the 2, 3, 4 it would work out like this.

32  - other conference
36 ,- other divisions
12 - your division

That is 80 games.  They could use the other 2 for the mid season tournament and stick with an 82 game schedule.

[wdleehi]

I was thinking about how they can make the end of the season more interesting and after expansion to 32, and I think something like this could work.

No divisions, just 2 conferences

Play other conference 2 games - 32 total

Play your conference 3 games - 45 total

The last 5 games of the year are flex games where teams are grouped by tier.  So after 77 games you group 1-6 in conference together and 7-12 together.  They then play 1 game against every team in their tier.  The bottom 4 teams from each conference also are grouped together with the bottom 4 from the other conference such that you play 5 of the 7 other teams.  Your seeding can change, but you cannot change tiers.  The bottom 8 teams all have the same lottery odds so losing makes no difference at that point.   

So everyone still plays 82 games, but now the first 77 everyone in the conference has the same schedule and the last 5 games teams of similar quality and status are playing to hopefully add some excitement and more interest leading into the playoffs.

They would probably just make the 5 other games the mid-season tournament.

Possibly, but I think ramping up into the post season and eliminating the need to tank the last 5 games, is better for the sport.

Maybe, but would a team on the line between two status throw a game to be the best team in a group then the worst?   Then hope to pass the other team by having a better record in those 5 games.   


(every idea creates another reason to lose a game.   Tanking whack-a-mole)

[Moranis]

I was thinking about how they can make the end of the season more interesting and after expansion to 32, and I think something like this could work.

No divisions, just 2 conferences

Play other conference 2 games - 32 total

Play your conference 3 games - 45 total

The last 5 games of the year are flex games where teams are grouped by tier.  So after 77 games you group 1-6 in conference together and 7-12 together.  They then play 1 game against every team in their tier.  The bottom 4 teams from each conference also are grouped together with the bottom 4 from the other conference such that you play 5 of the 7 other teams.  Your seeding can change, but you cannot change tiers.  The bottom 8 teams all have the same lottery odds so losing makes no difference at that point.   

So everyone still plays 82 games, but now the first 77 everyone in the conference has the same schedule and the last 5 games teams of similar quality and status are playing to hopefully add some excitement and more interest leading into the playoffs.

They would probably just make the 5 other games the mid-season tournament.

Possibly, but I think ramping up into the post season and eliminating the need to tank the last 5 games, is better for the sport.

Maybe, but would a team on the line between two status throw a game to be the best team in a group then the worst?   Then hope to pass the other team by having a better record in those 5 games.   


(every idea creates another reason to lose a game.   Tanking whack-a-mole)

The tiers are set at 77 games. You cannot change your tier. Only seeding within a tier changes but not the actual tiers.  So if you are 6 after 77 games, you cannot finish lower than 6. You could finish 5th or anywhere higher just not lower. 

[Donoghus]

Aren't teams going to be prone to continue to load manage the last 5 games of the season? Especially top tier teams. How many teams are really ramping up those last few games before the playoffs start?