NBA Project 32 - Timberwolves Update

[mbannon92]

Perfect updates!

[SFGiants58]

As promised, here is the project's realignment plan (with Minnesota moved to the Eastern Conference to allow for the two Western Conference expansion teams, and for logic's sake):

Two conferences, four divisions (with a few spoilers for future color schemes). The conferences and divisions are only used to structure each team's schedule (4 games against division opponents, 3 games against non-division and same conference opponents, and 2 games against non-conference opponents), while the playoffs now use a tournament format, with the top 16 teams in the league going to the playoffs and all seeding based on record. Using last season, here would be a hypothetical playoff first round:

1. San Antonio vs. 16. Charlotte

2. Oklahoma City vs. 15. Brooklyn

3. LAC vs. 14. Washington

4. Indiana vs. 13. Phoenix

5. Miami vs. 12. Chicago

6. Houston vs. 11. Toronto

7. Portland vs. 10. Dallas

8. Golden State vs. 9. Memphis

This helps to eliminate a lot of the conference bias, and allows for many Western Conference teams who missed the playoffs to get in while sub-.500 Eastern Conference teams miss (like they should).

With that said, on to the Pels!

NEW ORLEANS PELICANS

While I did like the Pelicans new identity, I was really underwhelmed by the uniforms. The navy/red/gold color scheme is somewhat bland, as are the uniforms. Like Miami, New Orleans can get away with some funky color schemes and design elements. So, I decided to go full Mardi Gras with a purple/green/gold color scheme! Don't worry, the Jazz won't use a color scheme like this. The logos are much the same as they are now, but they reflect the new color scheme. The court has been spiced up as well, with sconces in the college lines (again, another reason why I like those lines so much and the design opportunities they allow) and the wordless Pelican at center court.

Uniforms

The wordmarks are now arched to match the primary logo, and the "Pelicans" wordmark is on the home uniform now (they really don't need to have "New Orleans" on the home uniform, only the Knicks should do the "city name at home" look). The sconces go along the panels, which now have a more traditional look. The collar now is a logo v-neck, with the striping pattern and a fleur-de-lis in the patch (much like the initial NOLA Hornets had). The full bird is present on the waistband, along with little notches in the panels.

Alternates

The alternate is a green alt, bearing the "NOLA" wordmark from one of the alternates I scrapped from the tweaking. I didn't want to do the swapped color alt the team did as a Mardi Gras alt, because that's just hideous.

Up next, the staunchly traditional Knicks!

[TheGiantsFan]

I kinda had a challenge guessing which team's which in that first pic, but I only got about half of them right. I guess I'll just wait for those concepts. Haha.

VERY nice designs for New Orleans! I like how well you incorporated the colors into the Pelicans and I especially love all the sconces. Well done!

[uuh70]

Love what you did with the Pelicans....Your concepts are so perfect it makes me want to retire from attempting them myself lol

[Clintau24]

I love the colors for the Pelicans. Fits New Orleans to a T. I really like that you took their boring uniforms and added something to them. Well done.

[Shadojoker]

Excellent job with New Orleans! Agree with everything that has been said.

[ClutchCityColtsFan]

Love the pelicans, but the twolves should have kept their current uniforms.

[SFGiants58]

Thanks for the C+C on the Pelicans. Because they've been ready to go for a while, here are the Knicks!

NEW YORK KNICKS

Just to get this out of the way, I don't particularly care for the Knicks' recent redesign. The new wordmark, half-assed trim, and the boring primary logo do not make for a good set. Granted, I like it more than the black accented sets, but I think of the Knicks as part of a Yankees/Red Sox dynamic with the Celtics. They should have a vintage look, warts and all. So, I restored a retro look and added some flare to it. Namely, I made a new primary logo to better reflect New York. It is based off of a prototype logo created by Michael Doret, but with the modern "Knicks" wordmark laid over it and in the blue/orange color scheme (no black, silver, or any other accent colors). The "NYK" subway token returns, albeit with blue letters instead of black. Also, I added an update of the apple logo with an "NY" insignia, mostly for apparel use (like Spike Lee's hat collection). The court is similar to the current court, but with the "NYK" at center (it seemed made for a court application).

Uniforms

The Yankees/Celtics uniform comparison applies again here. While the Celtics have a set they've had since the late 60's that has only received minor changes, the Knicks had a basic template from the late 60's that looked great until their BFBS phase. So, I decided to restore the classic, non-matching template. I know that may not aesthetically be the best look, but it just looks right given their age as a franchise and it works well with the simple color scheme. The pre-2012 wordmark is back, as is the number font. The new primary takes the place of the old one on the shorts (to justify using the city name on the home uniform, as they are the only team in this series to put the city name on their home uniforms), and the subway token is used on the waistbands (a little adjustment that gives that logo more exposure).

Alternates

I decided not to do an orange alt, because I prefer the Knicks to use orange as a suboordinate color and not as a primary color for a uniform. So, I decided to use a blue fauxback alt based on this uniform, with the only differences being the arched wordmark, an NOB, and a detailed waistband replacing the belt (yes, basketball uniforms once had belts, and I think I just gave Adidas an idea for a new gimmick). The other alt is a St. Patrick's Day alt, with all the blue on the road uniform replaced with green. Don't worry, they won't be worn against the Celtics.

Up next, the Thunder!

[LAWeaver]

The knicks logo feels a bit empty. I'd slide the knicks script down a tad and add New York above it

[aeargle]

Thanks for the feedback on the Hawks. I'm going to update them after the series is done, as I will with most updates. But now, here is the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets!

BOSTON CELTICS

A classic set that really does not need too much modification. Whenever I think of the NBA, the Celtics have a Yankee-like status with their look. They have a consistent tradition with little variation over the years. Of course, that does not mean that they cannot be tweaked. So, that's what I did. I went back to the 70's-80's variation of the primary logo (as it did not have the wild array of colors the current primary has, most of which aren't on the uniforms). Black now only exists as a keyline for the primary, and nowhere else in the set (I wanted to replace the keyline color, but I could not get it to work ). The classic parquet court receives little modification, with the restoration of the classic primary being the only real change.

Uniforms

Here, I made some more tweaks. I removed the clover from above the NOB on the home and road (I felt that it cluttered up the back of the uniform, especially with it being the same color as the lettering).

On the alternates, I really did not want to do too much. Both of the alternates are intended for special occasions, as I feel that the Celtics are a team that really does not need alternates. However, I made both a holiday alternate and a throwback alternate. The holiday alternate is the old St. Patrick's Day alt, just with the "Boston" script swapped out for a "Celtics" script. The throwback alternate is a recreation of the road version of this uniform from 1948 (which the current black-script alt is based on), albeit with an NOB to comply with NBA rules.

In the next post, with far more substantive changes, the Brooklyn Nets!

I want that tertiary logo on the front of at least one of the jerseys. That is sweet.

[Shadojoker]

Knicks logo set is great but unis are meh to me. Good job though. Guess since they are classic team you can't really change to much about them.

If your whole Boston uniform set used this design(home,road, golden St Paddys, black alt). .I'd fap! Something classic yet modern!

[davidmiller5]

I agree with Mr. Nascar: the wordmark on the primary logo could be moved down and you could add New York above the -nick- of the KnickS script. I also think that this should be on the middle of the court. Emphasize their New Yorkiness with the Empire State Building logo proudly displayed. I think the NYK logo is good for their shorts band but shouldn't be heavily displayed.

[MSRebel22]

WOW I love the new Pelicans! I'm happy to see that you didn't change the logos just the colors!

[brfrank9]

Great job on the Pelicans.

[SFGiants58]

NEW YORK KNICKS - UPDATE

Here is the updated primary logo, with the "New York" lettering and lowered "Knicks" text. It really makes the logo feel a little more filled, without taking away from the Empire State Building in the logo. The primary is now on the court and on the uniform shorts.

Court

Uniforms

St. Patrick's Day alt:

The Thunder will be arriving shortly, along with updates of Dallas (a design I've never been happy with) and Charlotte (in response to the new uniform and court unveilings).

[SuperLeafsFan]

I like the two new looks and the Bucks, but I don't enjoy the Heat jerseys. I'm sorry, but the whole Miami Nightlife look doesn't work in my eyes with those clours. I'd prefer the Floridans colours.

[AceHawk447]

Outstanding take on my team (NY)! Especially liked the return to full-on trim and the blue-letter upgrade to the "token" secondary.

The "Knicks" wordmark's position in the updated logo, though, can also accommodate a different placement for "New York:" in a concave-up radial path below and abutting the circle, in an appropriate font and size. How would that work?

[Telemundo219]

Great job on New York and New Orleans though I have some suggestions:

For New Orleans: Switch the wordmark and outline colors on the away.

New York: Remove the white outline from the wordmark in the logo and make the orange circle in the a ball with blue seams.

[SFGiants58]

Here are two updates of earlier concepts, the Hornets and the Mavericks!

CHARLOTTE HORNETS - MEGA UPDATE

Now that the whole set has been revealed, I decided to tweak my concept to account for things I didn't particularly care for in the released designs. While I do like the court and the uniforms, I felt they could use a degree of adjustment. The court now bears the honeycomb pattern and color scheme of the current court, but with the "Buzz City" logos eliminated in favor of the "CH" insignia. The uniforms have also received some modification from my first versions. The subliminated honeycomb has been dumped, as it really isn't necessary when the court has the glorious honeycomb pattern. The multicolored pinstripes now use a dark teal and the carolina blue found on their color sheet. I've redone the wordmarks to better match the actual uniform wordmarks, but I kept the number outlines (because I prefer teal on the road to purple). The new Hugo goes on the waistband, as I'm not a fan of the silhouetted hornet (and I like the updated Hugo). Road uniform is teal, because I prefer the teal look on the road (only team with a teal road uniform).

Court

Uniforms

Alternate

The alternate uses the honeycomb pattern from the practice court in the side panel, with the shorts logos adjusted accordingly.

DALLAS MAVERICKS

I've never been all that happy with how my original concept turned out. It had too many of the problems from the current set, the green felt kind of forced, and the font really should have been limited to the alternate. So, I went back to the double blue color scheme, ditched the shields from the logos, and removed all of the black accents (just simple cleaning). The current uniform font also returns in the wordmarks and courts, while the alt wordmark remains an alt wordmark. The uniforms smooth out the top of the paneling, allowing for the higher placement of the wordmarks and numbers. The "Mavericks" wordmark now goes on the home uniform, the road goes back to a navy blue base (with no silver outlines on the logos). The alt uses the current alternate wordmark, with my update of the hat logo from the previous version.

Courts

Uniforms

Home

Road

Alternate

Up next, the Oklahoma City Thunder!

[Jake3roo]

I love almost all the sets, except for the heat. Nothing in the primary or secondary says "heat" to me. before, th e colors made up for it a bit, but now it isn't even heat-like.