The Official Mike Conley Thread

[Ethomasp31]

I have one question: lets imagine that Gobert trade never happened. Would you still trade last summer DLo for Conley and NAW (no picks attached)

I would have traded DLo for anything. He doesn't play winning basketball. He can shoot well from time to time but he will never be a major piece on a winning team. My lasting memory of him will be getting kicked out of the game when we were down 40 at the end of the 3rd quarter against the Nuggets. Either that or having a backdoor good statistical game where he makes a bunch of 3's once the game has been decided after playing like crap when the game was on the line. I'd give away picks and DLO for Conley. Especially when we had no intention of bringing him back. Good luck to the Lakers if they decide to sign him to an extension for anything close to what he is making now.

[shrink]

I have one question: lets imagine that Gobert trade never happened. Would you still trade last summer DLo for Conley and NAW (no picks attached)

Yes, but let’s preface it a little.

Last summer, the players hadn’t had their trade value impacted by this season. I think at the time of the trade, DLo’s value was higher (good season, less overpaid time on deal), and Conley’s was lower (9 months older and a so so season in Utah) and NAW was lower (younger prospect). The swap in February of DLo for Conley deserved to have us getting extra assets (NAW and 2nds), but if we tried that deal last Summer, Utah might have declined on value. And of course, if we didn’t trade for Gobert, Conley is even more valuable to the Jazz next to Rudy.

But for me, I would have made that trade last year because, like every trade, we should do what helps Ant maximizes his chances to be a superstar. We know Ant is young and impressionable, and he credits a lot of his success his first season from listening to Ricky Rubio. DLo may be a better player than Conley right now, but Conley is by far the greater professional, and has been so his entire career. He may only have a little over a season with Ant, but I want him whispering in Ant’s ear far more than I want DLo doing it.

[Klomp]

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[TimberKat]

I have one question: lets imagine that Gobert trade never happened. Would you still trade last summer DLo for Conley and NAW (no picks attached)

Yes, and could keep Beasley for the scorer role. However, more intriguing discussion would be trade DLo and all those picks for Mitchell instead?

[Klomp]

I have one question: lets imagine that Gobert trade never happened. Would you still trade last summer DLo for Conley and NAW (no picks attached)

Well if the Gobert trade never happened, the Mitchell trade likely never happens and the Conley trade never happens because Utah isn't tanking...

[minimus]

I have one question: lets imagine that Gobert trade never happened. Would you still trade last summer DLo for Conley and NAW (no picks attached)

I would have traded DLo for anything. He doesn't play winning basketball. He can shoot well from time to time but he will never be a major piece on a winning team. My lasting memory of him will be getting kicked out of the game when we were down 40 at the end of the 3rd quarter against the Nuggets. Either that or having a backdoor good statistical game where he makes a bunch of 3's once the game has been decided after playing like crap when the game was on the line. I'd give away picks and DLO for Conley. Especially when we had no intention of bringing him back. Good luck to the Lakers if they decide to sign him to an extension for anything close to what he is making now.

I remember one moment when DLo clearly made mistake in defense, but instead of hustling back he was trying to re-assign another teammate and messed up whole defensive rotation. That looked really bad

[minimus]

I have one question: lets imagine that Gobert trade never happened. Would you still trade last summer DLo for Conley and NAW (no picks attached)

No. I would try to trade for a younger PG. I don't think TC would have traded for Conley if we didn't have Gobert. IMO, we needed to move on from D'lo.

Yes, trading for younger PG is an ideal scenario. But if we get back to this offseason only DeJounte Murray and Jalen Brunson were kind of available. Brunson was already locked to go in NY, however even as UFA he would not choose MIN, because his father was fired here. It is like zero chance.

Murray case is interesting. He is not traditional PG and I have read multiple reports that he is not the guy you want to run your offense. So here is my question: do we want even less team oriented version of DLo even with elite defense? Also Murray did some questionable things like unnecessary angry against rookie Banchero, his words about SAS etc. So yes, Murray is younger than Conley, but is nowhere near as facilitator, mentor and veteran presence. Plus he would costs three FRPs.

P.S. I think if we could have got Conley and NAW for DLo, we still could get a PG prospect who is not ready yet, like Tre Jones who could have two years to learn from Conley.

[frankenwolf]

I have one question: lets imagine that Gobert trade never happened. Would you still trade last summer DLo for Conley and NAW (no picks attached)

No. I would try to trade for a younger PG. I don't think TC would have traded for Conley if we didn't have Gobert. IMO, we needed to move on from D'lo.

Yes, trading for younger PG is an ideal scenario. But if we get back to this offseason only DeJounte Murray and Jalen Brunson were kind of available. Brunson was already locked to go in NY, however even as UFA he would not choose MIN, because his father was fired here. It is like zero chance.

Murray case is interesting. He is not traditional PG and I have read multiple reports that he is not the guy you want to run your offense. So here is my question: do we want even less team oriented version of DLo even with elite defense? Also Murray did some questionable things like unnecessary angry against rookie Banchero, his words about SAS etc. So yes, Murray is younger than Conley, but is nowhere near as facilitator, mentor and veteran presence. Plus he would costs three FRPs.

P.S. I think if we could have got Conley for DLo and NAW, we still could get a PG prospect who is not ready yet, like Tre Jones who could have two years to learn from Conley.

I like the PS, except we coudn't trade NAW & D'lo as we didn't have NAW. However, if we could have traded D'lo for Conley and gotten Tre somehow, I would have been in favor of that.
I really think that were two sides of changing PG's: 1) Let's try D'lo out with this big lineup and maybe Gobert can erase some of D'lo's defensive errors or 2) Who could we get that would be younger and more of a facilitator for this two big lineup. I think Tyus would have been a good fit, but Rosas screwed us on that.

[younggunsmn]

Shrink is right in that D-Lo's value was lower in the summer coming off that awful playoff performance and there weren't many buyers for him except as an expiring contract. We finally found a buyer in the Lakers. Utah would have likely traded Gobert to someone else anyway (Bulls?) and gone into tear down mode. Maybe Utah does a Russell/Conley+NAW swap then just to get off of Conley's contract.

My idea this summer was to bring in Brogdon+Hayward for Russell/Beasley + a future 1st or two, and I think that would have been a home run,
I think having Hayward, as overpaid and injury prone as he is, in the Nowell role would have been a huge boost.
If we could have done Conley+Hayward without adding draft capital, thats great too.

[shrink]

I really think that were two sides of changing PG's: 1) Let's try D'lo out with this big lineup and maybe Gobert can erase some of D'lo's defensive errors or 2) Who could we get that would be younger and more of a facilitator for this two big lineup. I think Tyus would have been a good fit, but Rosas screwed us on that.

Both are interesting points!

1. When we acquired Gobert, I thought he would really help DLo prosper, helping him defensively like you said, and with his passing ability, I thought he and Gobert would run a beautiful pick-and-roll, on Day One. Didn’t happen, and I wonder if he and Ant struggled playing with Rudy because their background was playing with Towns, his polar opposite?

2. I really like Tyus, and I think of him almost every game after some bad turnover or the other. If I recall, Rosas offered him $3 mil to stay, and MEM offered him $15, even more than the MLE. I don’t think Rosas could have matched that offer, but still - the gap there is startling. Strangely, we still benefitted. MEM’s payroll is getting big, and last summer, they had to choose whether to keep Tyus or SloMo. I love Tyus and hope he comes back someday, but if I had to pick between a $15 mil Tyus and a $9 mil Kyle Anderson, I’m happy with SloMo.

[BlacJacMac]

1. When we acquired Gobert, I thought he would really help DLo prosper, helping him defensively like you said, and with his passing ability, I thought he and Gobert would run a beautiful pick-and-roll, on Day One. Didn’t happen, and I wonder if he and Ant struggled playing with Rudy because their background was playing with Towns, his polar opposite?

I think people were expecting a synergy between DLo and Rudy like he had with Jarrett Allen.

But the snag is that while DLo can be a very good passer, he's not really precise. He's not a guy who excels at hitting guys in their shooting pocket or putting the ball where they want it the most.

Allen is a freak athlete with incredible coordination. So he's going to catch anything that is near him - no matter if he's standing still or in a full sprint. So DLo could get away with passes that were off or hard to handle as long as the general idea of the pass was the right one.

Gobert is massive, but he's not really fluid. You don't throw bounce passes to him on the move, you don't throw passes below his chest. And you do everything you can to hit him in the hands.

SloMo is so damn smart, and such a film study guy that he understood it from Day 1. And watching Conley to pass to him is night and day from DLo - and even Conley said it took him a year to develop synergy with Rudy.

[Klomp]

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[deepestblue]

The Conley-Rudy connection has been amazing so far. It's easy to see why Jazz fans were enamored with this combination.

[Klomp]

A thought...

I have been like everyone else, worried about who the successor will be at PG after next year. However, why can't it be Mike Conley Jr?

Look at him, even though he's 31 right now, he's not really any worse for the wear. He doesn't have to be the guy running everything, but he's more than capable when he does. It's never really been about athleticism for him, but his smarts. Those won't fall off. Think of an older Derek Fisher, who started games regularly until his age 37 season. Same with Ron Harper. Now obviously those two started next to a couple of GOATs, but we are all optimistic about Ant becoming that kind of player at SG too, right?

Even off the bench, Conley could still be a weapon for us, so I'm not convinced that we must use him as a trade chip before next trade deadline.

[urinesane]

A thought...

I have been like everyone else, worried about who the successor will be at PG after next year. However, why can't it be Mike Conley Jr?

Look at him, even though he's 31 right now, he's not really any worse for the wear. He doesn't have to be the guy running everything, but he's more than capable when he does. It's never really been about athleticism for him, but his smarts. Those won't fall off. Think of an older Derek Fisher, who started games regularly until his age 37 season. Same with Ron Harper. Now obviously those two started next to a couple of GOATs, but we are all optimistic about Ant becoming that kind of player at SG too, right?

Even off the bench, Conley could still be a weapon for us, so I'm not convinced that we must use him as a trade chip before next trade deadline.

Why wouldn't it be Conley? He's made such a huge difference and will adapt to what is needed (and more importantly CAN adapt).

He's the perfect PG for this roster where he can score, but still makes a positive impact if he isn't scoring a lot. He provides confidence, structure, and accountability (not only that he is the BEST POSSIBLE example of a professional for the young guys to learn from).

We should be talking about potential extensions in the future for him, because he (like Anderson) has made a massive difference since he got to MN. I mean, just look at how they've played lately (especially with KAT back) he's basically shown that what they thought they could have when they got Rudy isn't a pipe dream, it just needed the right conductor to run the show.

[Worm Guts]

A thought...

I have been like everyone else, worried about who the successor will be at PG after next year. However, why can't it be Mike Conley Jr?

Look at him, even though he's 31 right now, he's not really any worse for the wear. He doesn't have to be the guy running everything, but he's more than capable when he does. It's never really been about athleticism for him, but his smarts. Those won't fall off. Think of an older Derek Fisher, who started games regularly until his age 37 season. Same with Ron Harper. Now obviously those two started next to a couple of GOATs, but we are all optimistic about Ant becoming that kind of player at SG too, right?

Even off the bench, Conley could still be a weapon for us, so I'm not convinced that we must use him as a trade chip before next trade deadline.

Conley is 35, 36 before next season. At that age, I think you have plan for the future.

[Klomp]

Conley is 35, 36 before next season. At that age, I think you have plan for the future.

I'll be 100% honest. When I started writing everything, I thought he was like 32 or 33. Right before hitting SUBMIT, I was looking at his BBref page and noticed he's 35. It kinda killed the higher likelihood of that happening, at least as a starter past next year, but I still wanted to put the thought out there.

[Colbinii]

Conley is 35, 36 before next season. At that age, I think you have plan for the future.

I'll be 100% honest. When I started writing everything, I thought he was like 32 or 33. Right before hitting SUBMIT, I was looking at his BBref page and noticed he's 35. It kinda killed the higher likelihood of that happening, at least as a starter past next year, but I still wanted to put the thought out there.

Remember Conley played at OSU with Greg Oden.

[urinesane]

A thought...

I have been like everyone else, worried about who the successor will be at PG after next year. However, why can't it be Mike Conley Jr?

Look at him, even though he's 31 right now, he's not really any worse for the wear. He doesn't have to be the guy running everything, but he's more than capable when he does. It's never really been about athleticism for him, but his smarts. Those won't fall off. Think of an older Derek Fisher, who started games regularly until his age 37 season. Same with Ron Harper. Now obviously those two started next to a couple of GOATs, but we are all optimistic about Ant becoming that kind of player at SG too, right?

Even off the bench, Conley could still be a weapon for us, so I'm not convinced that we must use him as a trade chip before next trade deadline.

Conley is 35, 36 before next season. At that age, I think you have plan for the future.

Plan, yes. Get rid of him in favor of a PG that needs to develop, no.

If anything I would keep him and over the next few seasons shift him into a mentor role for a PG that we want to mold into his style of play in the future. His impact on the development of the younger guys could be massive.

[urinesane]

With that in mind...

I love the idea of making a deal for Tyus Jones to groom him to take over the starting role when Mike eventually needs to have his minutes reduced/retire.

I love Naz Reid, but unfortunately I don't know if the Wolves can make it work financially (which sucks but is probably the reality of the situation unless he takes a team friendly deal). Would it be possible to do a sign and trade (may need a 3rd team) and end up with Tyus as their 2nd PG (with an eye to be the starter in the next few seasons)?