Utah Jazz point-man Mike Conley looks to be making big moves on and off the court, reportedly switching up his representation.
Unquestionably, Mike Conley registered one of his best efforts in a Utah Jazz uniform on Friday. Leading his squad into battle against a depleted Golden State Warriors squad, Conley put up 27 points on just 14 shots and hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range. His triple with 1:32 left in the contest essentially sealed the game for the Jazz.
However, Conley’s breakout performance wasn’t the only major development for the floor general on Friday. Earlier in the day, it was reported that the 32-year-old is switching agents.
Per The Athletic’s Tony Jones, Conley will now be represented by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), arguably the largest talent agency in sports.
Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley has switched agents and joined CAA....he is now in the same agency as Utah Jazz teammates Donovan Mitchell and Royce O’Neale
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) November 22, 2019
Conley’s Jazz teammates, Donovan Mitchell and Royce O’Neale are also represented by CAA and share an agent in Ty Sullivan. In 2018, CAA negotiated more than $855M in new contracts for its various NBA player clients. It is currently the top player agency in the NBA, managing $2.3 billion in player contracts, per Forbes.
Before making the move to CAA, Conley was represented by his father, Mike Conley, Sr., who had represented him since he entered the league in 2007. The elder Conley also represented his son’s Ohio State teammates Daequan Cook and former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden.
So, now for the (multi-) million-dollar question — does the fact that Conley is joining an agency shared by some of his team’s key cogs in Mitchell and O’Neale help the Jazz in any way?
The answer: potentially, but time will tell.
If Utah is looking to expand upon his current deal — Conley will make just over $32 million this season and $34 million next, although he does have an early termination option — executive VP Dennis Lindsey and GM Justin Zanik will be working with a team they have a preexisting relationship with.
And Mitchell and Conley may be motivated to keep their act together longer if the 2019-20 campaign proceeds as people in Jazzland expect/hope.
This is purely conjecture, but one also has to wonder why it was reported that Conley wasn’t interested in playing for Utah when the Jazz were negotiating with the Memphis Grizzlies on a possible trade last February, with reporters citing Conley, Sr. as their source, and if that would have been a factor in future negotiations.
In any case, Conley and the Jazz will be back in action on Saturday night as they play host to the New Orleans Pelicans.