Hi.
You must have clicked here because you want to know why the Minnesota Timberwolves should be realigned1 to the National Basketball Association’s Eastern Conference. If so, you’re in the right place! If not, I assume you are here because:
- You think a different NBA team should be moved to the Eastern Conference.
- You are doing research on migration patterns of the Canis lupus (Yes, that is what our blog is named after).
- You are Adam Silver.
No matter how you ended up here, I’m offering you a brief, but thorough guide for why Adam Silver and his grunts should select the Timberwolves as the team to be realigned if NBA expansion is coming in the near future. Scientific. Rational. Not just a simple desire,
as other teams wish for.
Here is the ultimate, undeniable guide for why Minnesota should be the lucky team chosen to join the far less competitive Eastern Conference, if Seattle and Las Vegas are awarded new teams to join the West.
1 – Using “recategorized” instead of “relocated” was the writer’s choice to not invoke fear and stir up past fan trauma about the actual act of relocation. For the record: The Timberwolves are not in jeopardy of relocation.
1. Geography
The most common argument you will see from other teams for why they should join the East are the longitude and latitude lines on a map.
“New Orleans/Memphis is literally the furthest east of all Western Conference teams!”
Oh, if it were only so simple. As much as some may like to draw a line straight down the middle of the United States and divvy up teams that way, that would result in 15 teams in the Western Conference, if you include Minnesota and Houston. That leaves 17 teams in the Eastern Conference.
That would not compute.
When you actually look at the map of NBA teams, it paints a much different picture. Consider that Seattle and Las Vegas’ potential teams are added to this map, a very clear photo begins to develop. There is a large scatter plot of teams in the Northeast quadrant of the map.
Though Memphis and New Orleans are in fact the two teams furthest east, they are also much closer to other west teams.
It would make the most geographic sense to lump Minnesota with teams like Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, and others into a division. The question of how to split up divisions is a different topic. Four divisions of eight? Eight divisions of four? That’s for Silver to figure out.
Whatever the case, it’s clear the Timberwolves topographically should be in the Eastern Conference.
2. Retribution
That’s right. The Timberwolves organization are owed this. Because of how far away they are from their conference foes on the west coast, let alone their immediate division rivals, Minnesota is frequently near the top of the list for miles traveled in an NBA season.
Though Minnesota comes in at 11th in terms of miles traveled this current season, they bump up to ninth when looking at just Western Conference teams.
There are coastal teams like Portland or Golden State who often have to go cross country, racking up miles along the way. Then there are more central teams like the Texas organizations that are burdened with having to go equally east and west. However, no one would argue that the NBA should randomly pluck one Californian or Texan team to be realigned to Eastern Conference.
We should really only be looking at Memphis, New Orleans, and Minnesota.
The graphic above would lead you to believe the Grizzlies are a no-brainer pick here, but they traveled well over 9,000 miles to play two games in Europe this season. You subtract that from their total and they are suddenly sitting in the lower third of this chart, just a handful of spots below the Pelicans.
The Wolves are easily the most traveled, and tired, team among these three every season.
So let’s give them a break, for Christ Johnson sake. They’ve served their terms on The Wall and deserve rest. Not only will limiting their air travel be the fair thing to do, but it would also save our environment by limiting the unnecessary aviation CO₂ emissions.
It’s only right.
3. Ratings
Alright, Adam Silver. If you’ve read this far, I ask you to read just a little further.
We all know what you really care about. The brand and bottom line of the NBA. You could say the the league has never been more popular around the world. I’d agree with you! The parity has made for a more fun and unpredictable product. Unfortunately, the malevolent, overly competitive Western Conference has come back like the bogeyman they once were during the Warriors, Spurs, and Lakers dynasties.
Do you really want fans not caring about the season, knowing one of those selfish western teams is penciled into the NBA Finals at the start of the season?
What you need is a worthy competitor from the East.
Let’s not realign the rapidly rebuilding, and uncompetitive, Pelicans or Grizzlies in the same conference with shamelessly tanking teams like the Pacers, Wizards, Nets, Bucks, and Bulls. This would only further compound the narrative that “The East is free.”
Meanwhile, it’s a bloodbath on the other side. Stars like LeBron James, Nikola Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Kevin Durant are eliminating each other in the early rounds of the playoffs like it’s a Royal Rumble. Hell, even aging superstars like Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard could get squeezed out of the postseason tournament entirely.
How’s that good for the game?
Now imagine this.
Anthony Edwards playing in front of his hometown Hawks four times a season.
Anthony Edwards in Madison Square Garden four times a season.
Anthony Edwards in the NBA Finals against Victor Wembanyama.
What people want to see are the biggest stars on the biggest stage. The East, with all due respect to the recovering Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum, lacks that punch. A face of the league that can threaten the daunting Western Conference horde. Sure, Anthony Edwards has said he doesn’t care to be that face.
But it’s not up to him. It’s up to you.
See you in the East.
