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Utah Jazz trade update: Conley refutes report that he prefers to go East

By Jared Woodcox

MEMPHIS, TN - FEBRUARY 5: Mike Conley #11 of the Memphis Grizzlies leaves the court after the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on February 5, 2019 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
MEMPHIS, TN - FEBRUARY 5: Mike Conley #11 of the Memphis Grizzlies leaves the court after the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on February 5, 2019 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Mike Conley made it clear earlier today that the rumors that he wouldn’t be interested in playing for the Utah Jazz were false.

If there’s one certainty around the NBA trade deadline, it’s that NOTHING is certain. Everything you hear has to be taken with a grain of salt as teams will try to leak information, true or otherwise, or mislead where necessary in order to get what they need. A recent incident involving the Utah Jazz is a perfect example.

Leading up to the deadline, many Jazz fans were thrilled at the prospect of potentially landing Mike Conley in a deal that would help Utah upgrade their point guard position. However, several reports surfaced yesterday from the likes of ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and The New York Times’ Marc Stein that Conley didn’t want to play in Utah and preferred to go the Eastern Conference.

As soon as this happened, many of those Jazz fans went off the rails, claiming things such as “If Conley doesn’t want to come to SLC, why go for him?” among other things. Nevertheless, the Jazz kept up their hot pursuit according to several reports.

And apparently, that was for good reason (who could’ve guessed that the Jazz front office would be more knowledgeable than the media and fans) as Mike Conley completely refuted the notion that he wanted to go east during today’s shootaround for the Memphis Grizzlies’ contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Essentially, Mike Conley said he had no idea where the rumor came from and that he’d be more than willing to play where he was wanted and needed. He added, “I’ll play anywhere. I never ran from a conference.”

In other words, the concerns that Conley would be disappointed to play in Utah and had no desire of coming to Salt Lake City were very much overblown. That’s good news for Utah Jazz fans that were hoping to land him because chemistry is certainly important when playing for the SLC squad. It also likely illustrates that Conley would be just as good of a fit as originally presumed.

However, it doesn’t mean that a Conley to Utah deal is anywhere close to a certainty. In fact, I’d argue just the opposite. All indications are that Memphis’ asking price has been far too high as teams like Detroit and Indiana have already halted their pursuit for that very reason. There’s also assumptions that at this point, the Grizzlies may just wait until the summer to deal him.

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That said, the Jazz offer is still on the table. And if Memphis ultimately finds it to be the most appealing, a deal could take place. And it could be a win for all parties involved.

All doubt will be erased in less than three hours time as the deadline wraps up at 1:00 PM MT.