A Brave New World: Expanding the NBA into Europe

Basketball has become a truly international sport.  it's enjoyed around the world and is growing.  Professional leagues exist on other continents and are producing their own talent rather than simply being a showcase for American nationals who couldn't make it in the NBA.  The NBA has long flirted with the idea of a European expansion and I think it is something that could be feasibly done with enough capital to bankroll the endeavor as well as proper marketing.

I think, for all practical purposes, and in order to make the endeavor a success it makes since for the NBA to establish multiple teams across the pond.  I am going to suggest six and while I won't debate which six cities would be the best locations I think the rationale is simple--you are going to need multiple teams over there in order to create rivalries.  Creating a whole European division also will cut down on the amount of travel the rest of the league makes to Europe.

Here is how I would set things up:

Eastern Conference 
Europe: Pick 6 Cities
Northeast: Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Washington, Toronto
Southeast: Charlotte, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, New Orleans, Memphis

Western Conference
Midwest: Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota
Southwest: Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Denver, Utah
Pacific: Seattle/Sacramento, Portland, Golden St, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Phoenix

Each NBA team will play each of their division mates 4 times (for a total of 20 games), and each of the other 30 NBA teams twice (for a total of 60 games).  When you add that together you get 80 games, 2 shy of the current 82.  If 82 is truly a magic number I am sure the NBA can find a way to determine who plays whom an extra time to get to 82.

I would also establish a "tour" system for travel.  by "tour" I mean that the six teams of one division would travel as a whole and each team would play each of the six members in that other division.  This would probably mean a road trip 10 days long.  Mind you, the who season wouldn't all be a bunch of tours but when it comes to traveling to Europe it makes sense to go over there, play a bunch of games, and then come back.  Also, it would mean just one trip to Europe for each team in the league, thus reducing travel fatigue and problems associated with adjusting to a new timezone.  A "tour" might also be handy for East Coast teams (Northeast Division) traveling to the West Coast (Pacific Division) and vice versa.

The Playoff system would need some tweaking.  Perhaps you could have some sort of playoff within the divisions to minimize travel. Or maybe whenever there is a playoff match up between a European and a North American team the 7-game series would be formatted 2-3-2 to alleviate some of that travel.