Timberwolves or Grizzlies May Shift to East if NBA OKs Seattle-Las Vegas Expansion
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The NBA could reshuffle its conferences as soon as next week, when the league’s Board of Governors is scheduled to vote on whether to invite formal expansion bids from Las Vegas and Seattle, according to multiple league sources.
If governors authorize the bidding process and the two new franchises are eventually approved, both clubs are expected to debut in the 2028-29 season. Because Las Vegas and Seattle are located in the western United States, league executives anticipate an imbalance between the conferences. To restore parity, officials expect either the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Memphis Grizzlies to move to the Eastern Conference, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.
Minnesota and Memphis have long been considered the most practical choices for an eastward move. Geographically, both teams sit closer to several current Eastern Conference cities than to some of their Western Conference rivals. For the Timberwolves, for example, travel to Chicago, Milwaukee, and Indianapolis would be shorter than many of their existing trips out west.
The NBA last expanded in 2004, when the then-Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) joined the league. A successful vote next week would mark the first step toward taking the league from 30 to 32 teams.
Source: Hoops Wire
