The NBA schedule is a grind. You hear it from players all the time, but until you look at a map of NBA teams, it’s hard to grasp how lopsided the geography really is. Honestly, if you live on the East Coast, your team is playing a completely different game than the guys out West.
Look at the Atlantic Division. You have the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Toronto Raptors. They’re all clustered in a tight corridor. A road trip for them is basically a quick hop on a train or a 45-minute flight. Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers are out there on a geographic island, essentially playing every "away" game in another time zone.
The Current Layout of the League
Right now, in early 2026, the league is still holding steady at 30 teams. They are split down the middle: 15 in the East, 15 in the West. It looks balanced on paper, but the actual map tells a different story.
Most people don't realize that Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans are technically in the Western Conference despite being further east than several "Eastern" teams like the Milwaukee Bucks or Chicago Bulls. It’s a relic of how the league expanded over the decades.
Eastern Conference Divisions
- Atlantic: Celtics, Nets, Knicks, 76ers, Raptors. This is the league's densest area.
- Central: Bulls, Cavaliers, Pistons, Pacers, Bucks. The Rust Belt heart of the NBA.
- Southeast: Hawks, Hornets, Heat, Magic, Wizards.
The Southeast is a bit of a travel outlier in the East. For example, in the 2025-26 season, the Orlando Magic are actually projected to lead the entire league in travel mileage, clocking in at over 54,279 miles. Why? Because they’ve been tapped for international games in London and Berlin this year. Even without Europe, being stuck at the bottom of the Florida peninsula makes every road trip a marathon compared to a team like the Indiana Pacers, who usually travel the least.
The Western Conference Struggle
If you want to see where the real jet lag happens, look at the Northwest Division. You’ve got the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, and Utah Jazz.
These teams are scattered across the mountains and the plains. The Timberwolves, specifically, are a geographic anomaly. They are located in Minneapolis, surrounded by Central Division teams like Milwaukee and Chicago, yet they have to fly to Portland and Salt Lake City for "divisional" games. It's brutal.
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The Pacific Division is the only one that really makes sense out West. You have the "California Four"—the Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, and Kings—plus the Phoenix Suns. They’re all relatively close, though the Clippers moving into the Intuit Dome hasn't changed the fact that they still share the same market as the Lakers.
Why 2026 is the Year the Map Changes
We’ve been hearing rumors for years, but Commissioner Adam Silver has been pretty vocal lately about 2026 being the "decision year" for expansion. The map is almost certainly going to add two more dots soon.
Seattle and Las Vegas are the frontrunners. It’s not even a secret anymore. Seattle has been waiting for the SuperSonics to return since 2008, and the infrastructure at Climate Pledge Arena is already NBA-ready. Las Vegas has the NBA Cup and a massive appetite for pro sports after seeing the success of the Golden Knights and the Raiders.
Adding two teams to the West creates a math problem. 32 teams means you can’t have two 15-team conferences. The most likely scenario is a total realignment. We might see the league move to four divisions of eight teams, or even eight divisions of four.
"We are looking at Seattle and Las Vegas... there's no doubt Las Vegas can support a team," Silver mentioned during the recent NBA Cup pressers.
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If Seattle and Vegas join the West, one of the current Western teams has to move to the Eastern Conference. The Minnesota Timberwolves are the obvious choice. Moving them to the East would immediately fix their travel nightmare and ignite natural rivalries with the Bucks and Bulls.
The Impact of Travel on the Standings
Does the map actually affect who wins? Usually, yeah.
In the 2025-26 season, the Portland Trail Blazers are looking at a stretch in February where they play eight out of ten games on the road, switching time zones six times. That kind of fatigue leads to "schedule losses"—games where the players' legs just aren't there because they spent the previous night at 35,000 feet.
On the flip side, the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks benefit from the "subway series" effect. They can play a road game and still sleep in their own beds. That recovery time adds up over an 82-game season.
Actionable Tips for Fans Using the NBA Map
If you're a bettor or a fantasy basketball manager, you need to live by the map. Don't just look at the injury report; look at the flight path.
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- Check the "3-in-4" stretches: When a West Coast team travels East for a 3-game-in-4-night stint, their defensive intensity almost always drops by the third game.
- Watch the Florida swing: Teams visiting Miami and Orlando back-to-back often struggle due to the "South Beach Flu" (and the humidity).
- Monitor the Altitude: The Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz have a massive home-court advantage because they are the only teams at high altitude. Visiting teams often gas out in the fourth quarter.
The current map of NBA teams is a snapshot of a league in transition. By this time next year, we’ll likely be looking at a map that finally includes the Pacific Northwest again and maybe even a brand-new franchise in the Nevada desert.
To stay ahead of these changes, keep an eye on official league announcements regarding the 2026 Expansion Draft parameters, which will likely be the first step in redrawing the NBA landscape for good. You should also track the "miles traveled" statistics mid-season to identify which teams are likely to hit a wall before the playoffs begin.