Little change for Suns in new NBA format
Bloomberg News
Nov. 3, 2003 02:30 PM
Under a plan to accommodate the NBA's 30th team, the league is planning to realign from its current four-division structure to six, five-team divisions. The Phoenix Suns would be grouped with the Lakers, Kings, Clippers and Warriors. The other Western Conference division would be composed of Seattle, Portland, Denver, Utah and Minnesota.
The expansion Charlotte Bobcats would join the National Basketball Association next season in a new division that has one playoff team from last season and whose teams are a combined 2-10 this year.
The Bobcats would be joined by the Washington Wizards, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic, NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik said. Orlando is the only team in the yet-to-be-named division that had a winning record last season.
League owners, who already decided on the six-division format, will vote on the plan to assign teams to the divisions in about two weeks, Granik said. The same number of teams, 16, will make the playoffs under the new structure.
Charlotte's proposed division is the only one that has only one playoff team from a year ago.
Meantime the Hornets, who moved to New Orleans from Charlotte last season, would switch to the Western Conference -- which has produced the past five champions.
Hornets spokesman Scott Leightman didn't immediately return a message left at his office.
The Hornets would be grouped with defending champion San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Memphis. New division names haven't been proposed, but they would reflect the geographic location of the teams, Granik said.
Eastern Conference teams have won a combined six NBA Finals games since Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls won the championship in 1998. Since then, the Spurs have won two titles, while the Los Angeles Lakers have won three.
The two-time Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets would be paired with New York, Boston, Toronto and Philadelphia. The other division in the conference would be made up of Chicago, Milwaukee, Indiana, Cleveland and Detroit.
Currently, the league's 29 teams are divided into three seven-team divisions and one eight-team division. The Atlantic, Midwest and Pacific divisions have seven teams, while the Central division has eight.
The Bobcats will pick fourth in the 2004 draft.
Bloomberg News
Nov. 3, 2003 02:30 PM
Under a plan to accommodate the NBA's 30th team, the league is planning to realign from its current four-division structure to six, five-team divisions. The Phoenix Suns would be grouped with the Lakers, Kings, Clippers and Warriors. The other Western Conference division would be composed of Seattle, Portland, Denver, Utah and Minnesota.
The expansion Charlotte Bobcats would join the National Basketball Association next season in a new division that has one playoff team from last season and whose teams are a combined 2-10 this year.
The Bobcats would be joined by the Washington Wizards, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic, NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik said. Orlando is the only team in the yet-to-be-named division that had a winning record last season.
League owners, who already decided on the six-division format, will vote on the plan to assign teams to the divisions in about two weeks, Granik said. The same number of teams, 16, will make the playoffs under the new structure.
Charlotte's proposed division is the only one that has only one playoff team from a year ago.
Meantime the Hornets, who moved to New Orleans from Charlotte last season, would switch to the Western Conference -- which has produced the past five champions.
Hornets spokesman Scott Leightman didn't immediately return a message left at his office.
The Hornets would be grouped with defending champion San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Memphis. New division names haven't been proposed, but they would reflect the geographic location of the teams, Granik said.
Eastern Conference teams have won a combined six NBA Finals games since Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls won the championship in 1998. Since then, the Spurs have won two titles, while the Los Angeles Lakers have won three.
The two-time Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets would be paired with New York, Boston, Toronto and Philadelphia. The other division in the conference would be made up of Chicago, Milwaukee, Indiana, Cleveland and Detroit.
Currently, the league's 29 teams are divided into three seven-team divisions and one eight-team division. The Atlantic, Midwest and Pacific divisions have seven teams, while the Central division has eight.
The Bobcats will pick fourth in the 2004 draft.
