If Bill Simmons’ recent rumor on the league’s expansion is true, the Minnesota Timberwolves would hopefully stay just that, the Minnesota Timberwolves. With the NBA adding expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas, new owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are more likely to keep the Wolves in Minneapolis.
However, if the NBA decides to expand to Seattle and Las Vegas, it would shake up the West.
The main thing that affects the Timberwolves in this proposed divisional alignment would be moving to a new division in the Eastern Conference.
The Wolves’ current location and division mean they are consistently one of the league’s most traveled teams. More time on the road means less time recovering and planning.
The division change would be a big mix-up.
Currently, the NBA scheduling rules are as follows:
- 4 games against the teams in their division (16)
- 4 games against 6 out of division teams in their division (24)
- 3 games against the four teams left in the division (12)
- 2 games versus every opposing conference team
There would only be 4 teams in a division in the expansion scenario presented above, so the Wolves would only play 12 games versus their division. The games lost in divisional would likely go to conference to the leftover conference games. That means the Wolves play 50 games versus the East and only 32 versus the West. Of those 50 east games, 12 would be versus the Bulls, Pistons, and the Bucks.
The Wolves would welcome an increased number of games versus the Pistons. Minnesota is 4-0 versus them in the past two years. But a 4-games series versus the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls could fare poorly for the Wolves.
Although the wolves have fared well against the Pistons, things versus the defending champs and the surging Bulls likely won’t come as easy.
Projected wins and losses aside, there would be peripheral benefits for Wolves fans. Games will start later with less frequency, something every fan can get behind. And by realigning, the Wolves would essentially be playing in their version of the NFC North. That means two of their opponents would be in the central time zone. The outlier, Detroit, plays in the eastern time zone. Ultimately, that’s more favorable than playing the Denver Nuggets and the Utah Jazz (mountain time) and Portland (pacific).
The proposed division change is similar to when the Wild changed from the Northwest Division to the Central Division in 2013-14. The Minnesota Wild switched divisions from the defunct Northwest Division that included Western Canadian teams like the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, and Edmonton Oilers in that offseason. Their new division had teams much closer to them, leading to less travel time. That could be a factor in recent team success and, at the very least, renewed old North Stars rivalries with the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues.
However, the Wolves may be less welcoming to a move to the East now. It used to be that the Wolves could have been a sub-.500 playoff team had they been playing in the East. But now they’d be arguably joining the better conference. With surging teams like the Charlotte Hornets, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota could struggle to make the play-in.
With the young talent the Wolves have, they have a solid chance at being a consistent playoff team in the West, especially when you factor in that a lot of the long-time contenders in the West right now are aging. LeBron James, Paul George, Chris Paul, and Damian Lillard are all on the wrong side of 30. If they retired tomorrow, they’d leave behind a non-playoff team.
Conversely, the East is not only the better conference today. But players like Giannis Antetokounmpo (27), LaMelo Ball (20), Darius Garland (22), Trae Young (23), Jayson Tatum (24), and Jaylen Brown (25) are all leading their teams to success right now and will continue.
I think most NBA fans agree that Seattle needs a basketball team, whether it be the SuperSonics or a brand new team. The Emerald City has had an incredible impact on the game of basketball, whether it be from when Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton were playing for the SuperSonics or the talent the city has produced, including Jamal Crawford, Zach LaVine, and Jaylen Nowell.
Many Wolves fans would agree that Seattle deserves a team. But it should not come at the expense of the NBA in Minnesota. The fans have shown they will support a winning team in the Twin Cities.
