Conley is a winner.
At 32 years old, time is running out for Mike Conley to win a ring. Him being traded out of Memphis only made sense for both sides, despite the long relationship they had.
Memphis knew that Ja Morant would likely be available for them to draft second overall, and had to open up playing time at point guard for Morant to develop into a star. Conley needed a place where he could help a playoff team get over the hump into the NBA Finals.
He got what he wanted in his trade to Utah. The Jazz had made the playoffs and cracked 50 wins despite having a young roster and a lot of non-shooting threats on the perimeter. They had shown potential of keeping up with the best in the NBA, but just couldn’t get over the hump.
I’m sure Conley knows that in order for the Jazz to reach their true ceiling this season, he has to be more like his Memphis self. In the 12 games the Jazz have won with Conley playing, Mountain Mike has averaged 15.3 points, 4.7 assists, and shot 40 percent from the field. In the nine losses with Conley playing, he’s averaged 12 points, 4.3 assists, and shot 32 percent from the field.
That clear difference should fuel Mike’s motivation to turn it up the final few months of the season. Given that he has a huge contract it’s very unlikely he gets traded. His best bet for a championship will likely be this spring.
Magic coach Steve Clifford, on the importance of Mike Conley returning to the Jazz: “They have more offense than any team in the league.”
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) December 18, 2019
Mike Conley will have to make the sacrifice of playing off the ball and letting Donovan Mitchell take on more of the point guard duties, but I believe he’ll be up for the challenge. He’s shown great humility all year and comes with the reputation of being a team player.
Once he does figure out how to excel playing off the ball, Donovan Mitchell will become an even-more dangerous floor general and the Jazz will have enough talent to compete with anybody in this league.