RealGM

Updated the title and topic of this thread to reflect more recent rumors

Marc Stein claims the Clippers are interested in Conley.

I have mixed emotions about Conley. He has always played great against the Clippers and is definitely better than Jackson or Wall.

However, he is 35 and clearly on the decline.

Also, I worry that it would lead to Mann's role being diminished again.

They had a trade for him in the off season. Morris was involved but Clippers went with Wall instead.

Not sure I’m buying it now.

Very hesitant, we do not need to get older.

KL2 wrote:They had a trade for him in the off season. Morris was involved but Clippers went with Wall instead.

Not sure I’m buying it now.

hard to believe they wouldn't have made that trade- Conley is clearly a better option than Wall

Roscoe Sheed wrote:

KL2 wrote:hard to believe they wouldn't have made that trade- Conley is clearly a better option than Wall

I can try to find the tweets. One of the Jazz beat writers (I think) hinted at it and just a month or so ago Conley himself said he thought he was headed here.

***eta***

It was Tony Jones. I’m having a hard time finding the original tweet of his. I know I posted it here. Here’s this part though.

https://hoopshype.com/2022/11/07/mike-conley-thought-he-would-be-traded-to-clippers/

KL2 wrote:

Roscoe Sheed wrote:

KL2 wrote:hard to believe they wouldn't have made that trade- Conley is clearly a better option than Wall

I can try to find the tweets. One of the Jazz beat writers (I think) hinted at it and just a month or so ago Conley himself said he thought he was headed here.

I believe you- I just question why the Clippers wouldn't have completed such a trade. Maybe they were reluctant to include the other pieces Utah was asking for- maybe they asked for Mann, Boston, or Kennard. I would like the keep those guys.

Roscoe Sheed wrote:

KL2 wrote:

Roscoe Sheed wrote:

I can try to find the tweets. One of the Jazz beat writers (I think) hinted at it and just a month or so ago Conley himself said he thought he was headed here.

I believe you- I just question why the Clippers wouldn't have completed such a trade. Maybe they were reluctant to include the other pieces Utah was asking for- maybe they asked for Mann, Boston, or Kennard. I would like the keep those guys.

Conley makes $26.5M so probably some moving pieces involved. He’s a good player but with whatever pieces we’d give up to salary match, we’d end up an even older team than we are now.

The good: Avg 7.5 ast/1.7 TO. Definitely an upgrade over Wall and Reggie in terms of what this team needs from a PG

The bad: Old, below average shooting %. Defense??? Can he still stay in front of those younger quicker guards?

Don't mind giving up MMSr and Reggie/Wall for Conley, if our mission this season is still to go deep in the playoff. Like others have mention, my concern is T-Mann's development if we do get Conley.

Roscoe Sheed wrote:Also, I worry that it would lead to Mann's role being diminished again.

Mann would go back to his old situation- a wing player who doesn't score consistently enough to get regular wing minutes, even though we desperately need everything else he does for us. That alone could make it a no for me.

At this point I imagine Utah is just happy to get rid of his salary, with his numbers this year Conley is essentially a negative value contract on that team. I like him individually, just really don't want to get even older as a team. I am all for improving the team by ASB though. I question trading for Conley but combined with something else, maybe...

The 213 podcast made a good point that if we hold onto our #1 pick into the offseason, we'll have another #1 pick to package with it for a much better chance at landing a real impact player. Morris will be expiring as well to help with salary.

Also Conley is pretty injury prone himself. Do we really need another glass player?

Please, no more old, slow, injury-prone players. We have more than enough already. Also, hard pass on trading our picks this summer for a so-called "impact player" who probably won't move the needle enough, just like all our other desperate win-now moves over the years.

It's time to get younger and more athletic, period. We've tried taking shortcuts for the past decade and we've done nothing but watch the teams who have built patiently pass us by. With how much Ballmer can spend to bring in the best basketball minds, there's no excuse for why we're not scouting, drafting and developing like the Nuggets or Grizzlies. No more sacrificing the future for a second-round exit in the present.

MartinToVaught wrote:Please, no more old, slow, injury-prone players. We have more than enough already. Also, hard pass on trading our picks this summer for a so-called "impact player" who probably won't move the needle enough, just like all our other desperate win-now moves over the years.

Their comp was what ATL gave up for DeJournte Murray (3 1st rounders and Danilo.) So their idea was we would have a much better chance of landing a significant player than if we gave up our 1st at the deadline. In that sense I definitely agree, but it just depends on what is out there. Certainly we'd be as picky as the Lakers are now in considering any deals involving 2 of our future 1sts.

There's a conversation about how good Dejournte is, but they landed a 26-year old entering his prime. Whereas our stop gap moves are almost always for older players because they are typically the better bargains. We've added some good players that way, but our age now definitely shows on the court as Kawhi and PG themselves have gotten older.

madmaxmedia wrote:

Roscoe Sheed wrote:Also, I worry that it would lead to Mann's role being diminished again.

Mann would go back to his old situation- a wing player who doesn't score consistently enough to get regular wing minutes, even though we desperately need everything else he does for us. That alone could make it a no for me.

At this point I imagine Utah is just happy to get rid of his salary, with his numbers this year Conley is essentially a negative value contract on that team. I like him individually, just really don't want to get even older as a team. I am all for improving the team by ASB though. I question trading for Conley but combined with something else, maybe...

The 213 podcast made a good point that if we hold onto our #1 pick into the offseason, we'll have another #1 pick to package with it for a much better chance at landing a real impact player. Morris will be expiring as well to help with salary.

this alone is enough for me to not want it

madmaxmedia wrote:Their comp was what ATL gave up for DeJournte Murray (3 1st rounders and Danilo.)

And the Hawks are under .500 and just barely clinging to the play-in picture. More or less the same as where they were last year without Murray. If they had to do it over again, there's no way they make that trade.

The NBA has evolved to a point where these flashy win-now moves are a huge liability and don't even make you win now. I can't think of a single team that's traded away one of these stockpiles of unprotected/lightly-protected picks in recent memory and not come to regret it eventually, if not immediately.

Bottom line is that you're not going to beat teams like the Nuggets, Grizzlies, OKC (soon), and Pelicans by giving away first-round picks like candy. You need a roster full of players who can keep up with them, and they're pretty much only available in the draft.

Mike Conley is not the answer. Need to upgrade at the center position and get more athletic. Give the point guard keys to Mann, Force PG to play off the ball.

The Clippers should try to wrangle the Knicks as a third team since Ainge loves draft picks and the Knicks have a bunch. See if the Clippers can swing getting Conley and Hartenstein. Or, if its just a two team trade then see if the Clippers can get one of Vanderbilt or Olynyk with Conley. Really not sure though what the Clippers need to give up for these trades to work.

gosh wouldn't conley and hartenstein be some kinda get for this team?

If the team trades an older player for another older player that might fit better, then whatever, why not.

Since I doubt any significant or young assets would be given up for him, I'd be fine with a reasonable trade for him as Wall has been very underwhelming.

wakelaunch1 wrote:Mike Conley is not the answer. Need to upgrade at the center position and get more athletic. Give the point guard keys to Mann, Force PG to play off the ball.

Health is "the" answer, in terms of point guard, the depth is still sketchy even with Mann starting as Wall and Reggie have both been underwhelming. Can Conley outplay both of those guys? Sure, so to me, if it's a trade where he's coming in for another older player and one of those guys are going out, fine, but giving up any significant assets would be bad and is quite unlikely for a 35 year old anyways.

MartinToVaught wrote:

madmaxmedia wrote:Their comp was what ATL gave up for DeJournte Murray (3 1st rounders and Danilo.)

And the Hawks are under .500 and just barely clinging to the play-in picture. More or less the same as where they were last year without Murray. If they had to do it over again, there's no way they make that trade.

The NBA has evolved to a point where these flashy win-now moves are a huge liability and don't even make you win now. I can't think of a single team that's traded away one of these stockpiles of unprotected/lightly-protected picks in recent memory and not come to regret it eventually, if not immediately.

Bottom line is that you're not going to beat teams like the Nuggets, Grizzlies, OKC (soon), and Pelicans by giving away first-round picks like candy. You need a roster full of players who can keep up with them, and they're pretty much only available in the draft.

Lakers with AD, got a ring, that trade is not what caused them to waste all their other assets on an awful fit in Westbrook.

So far Cleveland is probably pretty happy with Mitchell. It all depends of course on the player and the team.

Roscoe Sheed wrote:

KL2 wrote:They had a trade for him in the off season. Morris was involved but Clippers went with Wall instead.

Not sure I’m buying it now.

hard to believe they wouldn't have made that trade- Conley is clearly a better option than Wall

Conley mentioned himself that he thought he was going to LA. The Clippers got Wall for nothing and were able to retain another asset, that was the reason the trade wasn't made. Of course in hindsight it's easy for us to say Conley is much better than Wall, but Conley was about to be 35, required assets to trade for, makes $20+ million, has another season on his contract, while Wall was free to get asset wise, much cheaper, bigger and is 3 years younger.

Ever since the Chris Paul trade that officially made them relevant, every single move Clippers have made feels sort of a do-over, a make-good, a take-back. "We should have done this instead of that, so let's fix it by doing the move we should have made a long time ago."

What better evidence than the Clipper's longing search for a small forward. During the Lob City era, their small forward rotation was perhaps the worst in recent NBA memory. Either that small forward was one-dimension, in the twilight of their careers, or a scrub. Their solution: have a power forward in Luc Mbah A Moute pretend to be a small forward. To the Clippers, masquerading the 3 was a better solution than actually looking for a real small forward because they were afraid that a trade would cost them their beloved no. 1 pick, franchise cornerstone and savior Blake Griffin. The trade for Tobias Harris proved right, turning them back into the loser Clippers of the Sterling era. They were more concerned of their image than competing for a title.

Going for Conley feels like a Pierce move. The first ever 3-1 collapse in 2015 knocked some sense into the Clippers, but instead of going after an already established small forward, they chased after the guy they desired for years, treating Pierce's arrival as an eraser to a pencil. Granted that Pierce was technically barred from joining the Clippers due to their compensation trade of Doc Rivers and the adjoining gag order that barred Clippers and Celtics from further transactions and negotiations with each other for the rest of the 2013-14 season, but Pierce was already getting older. Clippers should have just let him go and move on, but personal emotions got in the way of business.

Clippers should instead double down on their true strength: being pretenders. They figured out that doubling down on shooting guards, small forwards and power forwards was the recipe to success, turning the point guard spot into a wild card. They asked for wing stop, they gotta see it through.

What they should do instead: find a power forward who can play center, with the height for it.

Well. Shams reporting it now.