Utah Jazz should re-engage on Mike Conley talks this summer

The Utah Jazz made a major play for Memphis Grizzlies point-man Mike Conley ahead of the NBA trade deadline.

Make no mistake about — Ricky Rubio came to play when the Utah Jazz battled for their playoff lives in Game 5 against the Houston Rockets last week. In 32 minutes of play, Rubio scored 17 points, dropped 11 dimes and nabbed three steals — altogether not a bad day at the office.

And yet, the thing that a lot of Jazz fans will likely most remember from his game is a rally-killing, air-balled 3-point attempt (without a defender in sight) that would have given Utah the lead with a minute and change to play.

Despite the good vibes he’s brought to the Jazz locker room and to the Salt Lake City community, it’s that dichotomy of soaring highs and crushing lows that will define his Jazz tenure. It’s also the reason he may not be back next season.

Which begs the question — if not Rubio, who?

For me, it’s an easy answer there. You make a play for the same guy you tried to pluck from the Memphis Grizzlies at the NBA trade deadline — Mike Conley.

When the Jazz balked at including Dante Exum as part of their compensation package for Conley in February, it may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back on a potential deal. Given Exum’s continued penchant for incurring major injuries and Rubio’s up-and-down play to close out the year, Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey would probably like to take a Mulligan on that one.

Or, at the least, he should.

Personally, Jrue Holiday would be my go-to pick to be Utah’s next floor general. But he seems like a pretty tough get, and as far as Plan Bs go, you can’t do much better than Conley.

Sure, he’s 31 years old. Yeah, he’s had a couple of bumps and bruises over the years. And that $67 million he’s owed over the next two years is no joke. There’s also the chance the him taking the ball out of Donovan Mitchell‘s hands at times isn’t a good thing.

In the end, he’s still worth the gamble.

The Houston Rockets had eerily similar checks in the “cons” column when they were looking to acquire Chris Paul from the LA Clippers, but threw caution to the wind and made a deal happen anyway. All they’ve done since then is win 118 games and make themselves perhaps the only team in the Association capable of beating the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game series.

You may be able to hit them on giving him a four-year, $160-million deal last summer, but in the here and now, he’s combined beautifully with James Harden and the Rockets have hit another gear as a result.

The Jazz would do the same with Conley, so long as he stayed on the court.

Last season, the former All Defensive Team pick put together a monster year in the face of a losing situation and the dismantling his longtime core in Memphis. Not only that, he actually got better down the stretch when no one would have blinked twice if he had simply decided to check out.

Over his final nine games played, he averaged 28.3 points and 7.3 assists per contest while shooting over 51 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range. For his efforts, he captured Western Conference Player of the Week honors in mid-March.

He wasn’t just beating up on inferior competition, either. Conley dropped 40, 35 and 28 against the Portland Trail Blazers, Rockets and Jazz, respectively — three teams with strong backcourts that were jockeying for playoff position. For the record, the Grizz won all three of those games, too.

Simply put, Conley is exactly the kind of player the Jazz need next to Mitchell in their backcourt. A winner, who can run the offense, hit the outside shot, get up and down the floor and defend like a beast.

When the Jazz failed to obtain Conley in February, the word on the street was that they could look his way again on draft night. In a recent piece for HoopsHype, Frank Urbina threw down a nice, succinct And1 to that idea, writing this —

"Conley would present a major upgrade at the point for Utah, as he’s a 20-plus point-per-game scorer, can shoot the basketball more consistently from the outside and is a better defender than Rubio."

No need for flowery verbiage here; a good idea is a good idea. Ricky Rubio is a super solid basketball player and a better guy, but we’re in winning time now, and Lindsey really ought to explore this particular idea again in the summer.