How Looming NBA Expansion Could Be Huge News for the Timberwolves

It seems like it's only a matter of time until the NBA goes from 30 franchises to 32. Seattle and Las Vegas are the clear front-runners to land new teams, and growing momentum suggests that expansion could happen within the next few years. That's expected to be a big topic at the NBA's Board of Governors meeting in March, ESPN's Shams Charania said this week.

Assuming it ends up happening, the addition of Seattle and Vegas teams would be big news for whichever team then ends up going from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference in order to balance both leagues at 16. The West is significantly stronger than the East right now, and for whatever reason, that's mostly been the case for a long time. To use one example, the West has won 18 of 27 championships since Michael Jordan's last season with the Bulls.

There are three logical candidates to make the move: Minnesota, Memphis, and New Orleans. But although the Timberwolves aren't as far east as the other two, there's a strong case to be made that they should be the team that makes the move across conferences.

Why? For starters, because it makes more sense for travel purposes. Just look at a map of the 30 current NBA franchises. The Wolves are closest in proximity to four midwest teams: Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, and Detroit. All four of those teams are in the East. Minneapolis is also about the same distance from Cleveland and Toronto as it is from its nearest Western Conference city, Denver.

Moving Minnesota to the East would cut down on the overall travel distance for the Timberwolves over the course of a season. It would also give local fans more opportunities to drive to see a Wolves game in Milwaukee or Chicago. The NBA could lean into Minnesota's rivalries with Wisconsin, Chicago, and Detroit that exist in the NFL.

Meanwhile, take a look at Memphis and New Orleans on that map of NBA cities. They're not only near each other, they're also in close proximity to Oklahoma City and the three Texas teams, all of which are in the West. They're also close to several southeast teams in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Florida, but the key difference is that the Wolves aren't close to any current Western Conference teams.

When expansion happens, the NBA will likely follow the NBA and go to eight divisions of four teams. There are a number of different ways that could look, but it might make a lot of sense for the Wolves to be in a division with the Bucks, Bulls, and Pistons.

Yours makes a lot of sense.
I threw one together earlier just to get an idea of the possibilities. MN def makes the most sense in the East. pic.twitter.com/7CABEVyALu
— TheGrey (@TheGrey08) February 13, 2026

The Wolves going to the East would also balance out the conferences better than moving the Grizzlies or Pelicans. Minnesota appears to be set up to be an annual contender for a long time due to Anthony Edwards, who would bring some much-needed star power to the East. The West already has Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic, and Edwards, not to mention an older generation of stars (LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard). The East has Giannis Antetokounmpo (for now) and a few guys like Cade Cunningham, Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, and Jaylen Brown.

Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

It's still a few years away, but expansion seems to be inevitable. And for several reasons, the Timberwolves make the most sense as the team to move to the Eastern Conference to offset the addition of Seattle and Las Vegas. If that happens, the Wolves might just find themselves in a much more advantageous position to reach the NBA Finals by getting away from OKC, Wemby, and Jokic.

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