Since Mike Conley first suited up for the Utah Jazz back in October, his on-court performance has been underwhelming. Assuming a trade isn’t coming Utah’s way by the deadline, for the Jazz to see postseason success, Conley must improve.
If you get squeamish at the sight of disheartening basketball realizations, now would be the time to look away — back in February of 2018, the Utah Jazz acquired Derrick Rose in a three-team trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Sacramento Kings.
The reason for such a move?
To (eventually) pave the way for Mike Conley to (finally) make his way to Utah.
Conley will miss his 20th game of the season tonight with “right knee soreness” as the Jazz make their way to Denver to take on the Nuggets, but still — to date, though by no means abysmal, his season averages aren’t turning any heads: 12.6 points, 4.1 assists and three rebounds per contest.
Rose’s basic season averages are largely better, but again — nothing jaw-dropping: 18.9 points, six assists and 2.6 rebounds per game. The biggest difference between the two, however, comes in the form of cost …
This year Conley will make about $32.5 million — roughly $396,000 per game. Rose, on the other hand will earn $7.5 million this season — a per-game cost of about $91,500.
For those who aren’t “math people,” without taking into account the games Conley’s 32-year-old hamstring has caused him to miss, that’s a “loose” per-game difference of $304,500 — to put things in perspective, Isaiah Thomas’ season averages are spot on with Conley’s, but you could about cover the cost of his single-game price tag with the lost coins in your couch cushions.
No, the Jazz should’t have tried to keep Rose. Justin Zanik and Dennis Lindsey made all the right moves. And forget money, as this isn’t really a question of cost. The bottom line, though? Conley’s failed to live up to the expectations both Jazz fans and executives had of him.
As one Jazz fan so aptly put it on Twitter:
I like the idea of Mike Conley more than actual Mike Conley.
— Jimbo Slice (@JimboRudding) January 28, 2020
Since Donovan Mitchell first came into the league and made this Jazz team his own, the franchise has lacked a true, reliable point guard who can confidently execute an offense, create his own shot (sorry, Ricky Rubio) and consistently get a bucket when it’s needed most …
Somebody to take some of the offensive load off of Mitchell’s shoulders, really.
Conley hasn’t been up to that kind of challenge, thus far.
In fact, reports Kyle Ireland of KSL Sports:
"“In the six games since returning from the hamstring injury, Conley has averaged 8.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 19.5 minutes per game. He’s shot 44.7 percent overall and 19 percent from three-point range during January.”"
And yes, though the bulk of Conley’s stretch of missed games came during a “softer” part of Utah’s regular season schedule, the Jazz currently find themselves 15-4 in games with Conley in sunglasses and street clothes on the sideline.
Perhaps most damning of all for Conley, however, is the clear-cut lack of confidence coach Quin Snyder has in him. Since coming back from injury, not only has Conley not started a single game, but he’s routinely pulled from the court when the Jazz need scoring in crunch time.
It happened against the Rockets; it happened against the Spurs, too.
Is Conley solely responsible for all of the Jazz’s recent problems? Absolutely not.
It’s starting to look more and more like he might not be the solution the Jazz thought he’d be, though — and that’s a problem.