| Conference | Western Conference |
|---|---|
| League | National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| First season | 2004–05 season |
| No. of teams | 5 |
| Most recent champion(s) | Oklahoma City Thunder/Seattle SuperSonics (7th title) |
| Most titles | Oklahoma City Thunder/Seattle SuperSonics (7 titles) |
The Northwest Division is one of the three divisions in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division consists of five teams: the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz. The Northwest Division is by far the most geographically expansive of the six divisions; the Nuggets, Trail Blazers and Jazz are geographically closer to the Pacific Division, the Timberwolves are geographically closer to the Central Division, and the Thunder is geographically closer to the Southwest Division, although in the latter instance that was not the case when the division was formed as the Thunder were still the Seattle SuperSonics.
The division was created at the start of the 2004–05 season, when the league expanded from 29 to 30 teams with the addition of the Charlotte Bobcats. Dueing which the league realigned itself from two divisions in each conference to three divisions in each conference. The Northwest Division began with five inaugural members: the Nuggets, the Timberwolves, the Trail Blazers, the SuperSonics and the Jazz.[1][2] The Trail Blazers and SuperSonics joined from the Pacific Division, while the Nuggets, the Timberwolves and Jazz joined from the now-defunct Midwest Division. The SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City prior to the 2008–09 season and became the Thunder, but remained in the Northwest Division. Other than this franchise re-location, the division's membership has remained unchanged since its creation.
The most recent division champions are the Denver Nuggets, having won a sixth division championship in the 2022–23 NBA season. They along with the SuperSonics-Thunder franchise have won the most Northwest Division titles with six each, while the Jazz have won five, the Trail Blazers have won two, and the Timberwolves have only won the Northwest Division title once. In the 2009–10 season, all four teams that qualified for the playoffs each had more than 50 wins, and in 2018–19 all four teams that qualified for the playoffs had at least 49 wins.
Since the 2021–22 season, the Northwest Division champion has received the Sam Jones Trophy, named after Hall of Famer Sam Jones, who notably spent his career playing for the Boston Celtics and did not play for a team currently in the division, though he was assistant coach for the Jazz during their first NBA season in 1974–75 when they were based in New Orleans.[3]
- ^ "NBA Approves Realignment for 2004-05 Season". National Basketball Association. November 17, 2003. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ "Expansion Bobcats prompt change". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. November 17, 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
- ^ "NBA unveils new trophies for division winners named after 6 NBA legends". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 11, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2023.