It’s been over two decades since the NBA expanded, and reports suggest that will change this summer. According to Brad Townsend from Dallas Morning News, the NBA Board of Governors will likely vote this summer to expand the league with two teams, with Las Vegas and Seattle the favorite cities. This would shift the NBA from 30 teams to 32 and could also lead to a conference realignment.
Vegas and Seattle would likely be part of the Western Conference because it makes the most sense geographically, meaning a current West team would have to move to the East.
The New Orleans Pelicans would immediately become a potential favorite to make the move from the West to the East. History is on the Pels’ side when it comes to this move, as when the Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans in 2002, the franchise spent two seasons in the Eastern Conference and made the playoffs both years. They then moved West when Charlotte was franchised in 2004.
From a geographic perspective, a return east makes sense, as New Orleans is further east than Chicago, Milwaukee and Indianapolis, and could fit seamlessly into the Southeast Division alongside the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat.
A move to the East would not only make sense; it would also benefit the Pelicans immensely, as the West has been the most dominant conference in recent seasons.
A move could give the Pels an easier path back to relevance
Of the last six NBA champions, four have come from the Western Conference, and in that time the West has produced an average of 58.3 percent of the league’s top ten teams. Normally, about six of the league’s top ten teams come from the West. For a Pelicans team hoping to eventually become a consistent playoff team, these numbers don’t seem helpful.
To put that special 2023-2024 season into perspective, in which the Pelicans won 49 games and finished as the seventh seed in the West, if they had been in the East, they would have been the third seed. That means no play-in tournament, home field advantage in the first round and a much better chance of a deep playoff run. Instead of being swept in the first round by a 57-win Oklahoma City Thunder team that won the finals the following season.
I’m not saying this season’s results would change dramatically if the Pelicans were in the Eastern Conference, but they would probably be in a better position. While the current roster is poorly constructed and lacks both cap space and defensive personnel, a move east could realistically keep the Pelicans one or two moves away from a return to the playoffs, rather than continuing to suffer at the bottom of the Western Conference.
#NBA #expansion #salvation #Pelicans #fans #waiting