Alternate History 3: NBA & Pro/Rel

I've already examined the NFL and NHL, so now it's time for professional basketball. What if the NBA had implemented a system of promotion and relegation? There was no obvious point to start like with the NFL and NHL, so I settled on the 1967-68 season. That's when the league was expanded to 12 team, the same starting number I used for the NHL, and it also means that all three of these posts started right around the same time. Like the other posts, I used the same number of playoff teams that would be used for one conference in real life. I also used the same number of promoted and relegated teams (three each). NBA FINALS CHANGES Due to the yearly dominance of the top seeds in the NBA, I wasn't expecting many changes. But there turned out to be five different champions, one more than the NHL. Losing their titles were 1969 Boston, 1975 Golden State, 1977 Portland, 1995 Houston, and 2008 Boston. They are replaced by Los Angeles, Washington, Philadelphia, Orlando, and Los Angeles. So the Celtics lose twwo titles, while the Lakers gain two. That would shift the current balance from 17-16 in Boston's favor to 18-15, LA. Here's the full list of different finalists. Champions are listed as the first team. With pro/rel is on the left, and real life is on the right: 1968 Boston vs Philadelphia Boston vs Los Angeles 1969 Los Angeles vs New York Boston vs Los Angeles 1971 Milwaukee vs New York Milwaukee vs Baltimore 1972 Los Angeles vs Milwaukee Los Angeles vs New York 1975 Washington vs Boston Golden State vs Washington 1976 Boston vs Golden State Boston vs Phoenix 1977 Philadelphia vs Houston Portland vs Philadelphia 1981 Boston vs Philadelphia Boston vs Houston 1995 Orlando vs San Antonio Houston vs Orlando 2002 Los Angeles vs Sacramento Los Angeles vs New Jersey 2008 Los Angeles vs Detroit Boston vs Los Angeles 2010 Los Angeles vs Orlando Los Angeles vs Boston Why did each finalist miss out? In second division: 1968 Los Angeles 1975 Golden State 1976 Phoenix 1977 Portland 2002 New Jersey 2008 Boston Didn't qualify for playoffs: 1969 Boston (relegated) 1971 Baltimore 1972 New York 1981 Houston 1995 Houston 2010 Boston YEARS IN EACH DIVISON (including 2011-12) PCT 1st 2nd Playoffs 1 Los Angeles Lakers 86.67% 39 6 32 2 San Antonio Spurs 77.78% 28 8 21 3 Utah Jazz 71.05% 27 11 18 4 Phoenix Suns 70.45% 31 13 17 5 Portland Trailblazers 69.05% 29 13 13 6 Boston Celtics 62.22% 28 17 20 6 Houston Rockets 62.22% 28 17 12 8 New York Knicks 55.56% 25 20 13 9 Miami Heat 54.17% 13 11 8 9 New Orleans Hornets 54.17% 13 11 2 11 Detroit Pistons 53.33% 24 21 15 11 Oklahoma City Thunder 53.33% 24 21 13 13 Dallas Mavericks 53.13% 17 15 14 14 Denver Nuggets 52.78% 19 17 9 15 Milwaukee Bucks 52.27% 23 21 12 16 Chicago Bulls 51.11% 23 22 16 16 Philadelphia 76ers 51.11% 23 22 15 18 Atlanta Hawks 48.89% 22 23 10 19 Orlando Magic 47.83% 11 12 5 20 Sacramento Kings 42.22% 19 26 6 21 Minnesota Timberwolves 39.13% 9 14 4 22 Indiana Pacers 38.89% 14 22 5 23 Cleveland Cavaliers 38.10% 16 26 5 24 Golden State Warriors 35.56% 16 29 3 24 Washington Wizards 35.56% 16 29 7 26 New Jersey Nets 33.33% 12 24 5 27 Toronto Raptors 29.41% 5 12 0 28 Memphis Grizzlies 23.53% 4 13 2 29 Los Angeles Clippers 16.67% 7 35 2 30 Charlotte Bobcats 12.50% 1 7 0 Look at how good Utah, Phoenix, and Portland have been with little to show for it. Toronto and Charlotte have yet to make the playoffs, while the Clippers only boast two appearances in 42 years. Ouch. At least Golden State has 3. MOST CONSECUTIVE YEARS IN D1/D2 The longest lengths of time spent in division one (bold means a current streak): Years First Last Utah Jazz 21 1985 2005 Portland Trailblazers 18 1988 2005 Los Angeles Lakers 17 1996 2012 Los Angeles Lakers 16 1978 1993 Boston Celtics 14 1981 1994 San Antonio Spurs 14 1999 2012 New York Knicks 13 1990 2002 Milwaukee Bucks 12 1981 1992 Philadelphia 76ers 12 1977 1988 Chicago Bulls 11 1989 1999 Dallas Mavericks 11 2002 2012 The Lakers can't quite match the 30 year streak of the NHL's Boston Bruins, but they are one of three west teams with a current double digit streak. They didn't get relegated despite missing the real life playoffs in 2004-05, as they were only the fourth worst team in the alternate reality D1 that year. The longest lengths of time spent in division two: Years First Last Los Angeles Clippers 15 1978 1992 Washington Wizards 13 2000 2012 Golden State Warriors 12 1996 2007 Los Angeles Clippers 12 1995 2006 Cleveland Cavaliers 10 1980 1989 Dallas Mavericks 10 1992 2001 New York Knicks 10 2003 2012 Utah Jazz 10 1975 1984 The alternate reality Wizards join the alternate reality Redskins in having their league's longest current streak in D2. Not a great time to be a Washington sports fan, huh? 2011 DIVISION ALIGNMENTS Here's how two divisions would look for the current, just finished 2010-11 season, with the real life W-L records. NBA-1 Chicago Bulls 62 20 San Antonio Spurs 61 21 Miami Heat 58 24 Los Angeles Lakers 57 25 Dallas Mavericks 57 25 Boston Celtics 56 26 Orlando Magic 52 30 Denver Nuggets 50 32 Portland Trailblazers 48 34 Atlanta Hawks 44 38 Phoenix Suns 40 42 Utah Jazz 39 43 Milwaukee Bucks 35 47 Charlotte Bobcats 34 48 Cleveland Cavaliers 19 63 So the eight playoff teams would correspond to the real life top eight seeds, with the exception of Denver instead of Oklahoma City. The three relegated teams are Milwaukee, Charlotte, and Cleveland. NBA-2 Oklahoma City Thunder 55 27 Memphis Grizzlies 46 36 New Orleans Hornets 46 36 Houston Rockets 43 39 New York Knicks 42 40 Philadelphia 76ers 41 41 Indiana Pacers 37 45 Golden State Warriors 36 46 Los Angeles Clippers 32 50 Detroit Pistons 30 52 Sacramento Kings 24 58 New Jersey Nets 24 58 Washington Wizards 23 59 Toronto Raptors 22 60 Minnesota Timberwolves 17 65 Three western conference teams are promoted in place of the relegated eastern three. That gives us the following divisions for the 2011-12 season: 2012 DIVISION ALIGNMENTS The number represents the current consecutive number of years in the division. NBA-1 Atlanta Hawks 3 Boston Celtics 4 Chicago Bulls 2 Dallas Mavericks 11 Denver Nuggets 8 Los Angeles Lakers 17 Memphis Grizzlies 1 Miami Heat 3 New Orleans Hornets 1 Oklahoma City Thunder 1 Orlando Magic 4 Phoenix Suns 7 Portland Trailblazers 3 San Antonio Spurs 14 Utah Jazz 6 NBA-2 Charlotte Bobcats 1 Cleveland Cavaliers 1 Detroit Pistons 2 Golden State Warriors 3 Houston Rockets 2 Indiana Pacers 5 Los Angeles Clippers 4 Milwaukee Bucks 1 Minnesota Timberwolves 6 New Jersey Nets 3 New York Knicks 10 Philadelphia 76ers 8 Sacramento Kings 5 Toronto Raptors 3 Washington Wizards 13 YEAR BY YEAR CHART Orange = promoted Blue = relegated Green = playoffs