Mike Conley and Grizzlies agree to contract extension

[It_Was_Typed]

Griz sign Conley to 5-year extension

Mike Conley is enjoying a career year after three games and he will be rewarded.

The fourth-year point guard and the Grizzlies reached an agreement on a five-year contract extension, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations.

Conley avoided becoming a restricted free agent next summer.

Conley, the fourth overall pick in 2007, joined Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant (No. 2 overall pick), Atlanta's Al Horford (No. 3 pick) and Chicago's Joakim Noah (ninth pick) as the only players drafted in 2007 who received deals.

Notable players such as Oklahoma City's Jeff Green, Portland's Greg Oden and Houston's Aaron Brooks were denied.

For his part, Conley is off to a strong start to the season. He appears to be blossoming into the player the Griz envisioned. He's attacking the paint, finishing strong at the rim and shooting the ball with confidence.

His scoring (15 points per game), rebounds (5.7) and assists (8.3) are career highs. Conley also leads the league with 3.67 steals per game. The only other NBA players averaging at least 15 points, eight assists and five rebounds are New Orleans' Chris Paul and Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings.

http://blogs.commercialappeal.com/the_m ... nsion.html

Surprising.

[It_Was_Typed]

@CAGrizBlog Conley deal is 5 years, $40 million with incentives, Commercial Appeal is reporting

WOOOOOOW.

[mid-post]

It will be interesting to see what the incentives and $$$ come out to.

[It_Was_Typed]

I'm reading $45 million counting incentives.

Wow.

He shouldn't have gotten more than $25 million to be honest.

[ThreeYearPlan]

I'm reading $45 million counting incentives.

Wow.

He shouldn't have gotten more than $25 million to be honest.

Kyle Lowry got 6 mil a year and he's a backup, Raymond Felton got 7.5 mil a year and he and Conley were pretty equal as players last year, 8-9 mil was the reasonable price for him in the market. This is clearly a he's about to blow up extension as everything this summer was saying they were barely talking

[It_Was_Typed]

I am not going to reason this questionable move with other questionable moves of other teams.

Plus Felton's contract is only 3 years (last year is team option).

This pretty says goodbye to Z-Bo and Juice when the time comes.

[dookieguy]

Bit too much, but not terrible. Hopefully he can sustain this level of play.

[ClarenceDerozan]

Bit too much, but not terrible. Hopefully he can sustain this level of play.

You realize you guys will lose 2 of 3 out of Gasol, Zbo, and Mayo?

[360]

Nice knowing you OJ.

[jstnw89]

Nice knowing you OJ.

[mid-post]

Bit too much, but not terrible. Hopefully he can sustain this level of play.

You realize you guys will lose 2 of 3 out of Gasol, Zbo, and Mayo?

No.
http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages ... zzlies.jsp
Zbo will be gone most likely. But after he expires the team still has a good amount of flexibility to be able to sign Marc and/or OJ for '11-'12. Beyond that, who knows how things unfold.

[dookieguy]

Grizz have a payroll of $43m next season, with Marc and ZBo needing new contracts.

Guess OJ really depends on how much ZBo signs. They'll have to go into the luxury tax though.

[The Webb]

You guys are paying Conley 9 mill a season?

[tekkon]

Sorry guys, I've watched enough Grizzlies games to know I'm not on board with this signing.

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

Wow. IF Mike continues to play the way he's been playing so far this season (3 whole games) it's a great deal. That's a damned big "IF" though.

[jman3134]

Wow. IF Mike continues to play the way he's been playing so far this season (3 whole games) it's a great deal. That's a damned big "IF" though.

Exactly. We've compensated him for being a subpar point guard throughout his career. He better have a breakout season now.....

(we must be looking to trade him down the line)

[Downtown]

I always thought if they decided to re-sign Conley it would be for around $6mil a season. So if it averages out to $8mil then it's overpaying in my opinion, but not grossly. If the report is true then with the rest being in incentives I don't know if that effects the salary cap or not. Maybe someone can answer that.

But we'll have to wait and see if we get any info on how it's structured. Another question that popped into my head when I heard this was I wonder if Heisley is counting on a rollback in contracts with the new CBA and took a gamble on it?

Any way you slice it though it looks like they jumped the gun a little too soon, like they did with Rudy Gay. None of us are professionals at NBA contracts but it seems on the surface that having both of them as restricted free agents gave the Grizzlies a big advantage in waiting to see what their market value was and going from there if they wanted to keep both of them, which they obviously do.

To sum up my thoughts, I'm definitely surprised, I think they overpaid by about $2mil a year, but I don't think that $2mil will prevent them from proceeding with other players negotiations. And I just hope they didn't force this based on Conley's early season success.

[It_Was_Typed]

The Michael Conley Jr. Contract

Interesting that contract talks only heated up over the weekend. The Griz originally didn't intend to deal but then decided to ask Conley for a number. It was too high. The Griz countered. Conley rejected and countered. And so the negotiations went back-and-forth Monday until about five minutes before the 11 p.m. CST deadline.

On the surface there are two surprises here: 1) the Grizzlies actually pulled the trigger and didn't allow Conley to become a restricted free agency next summer. 2) Conley received a lucrative deal that is betting on continued growth at the pace he's on at this exact moment.

Underneath the paperwork, the Grizzlies decision to sign Conley to a five-year, $40 million contract (with lofty incentives that could increase the overall value) isn't that much of a shock to the system.

Some key points about the deal:

1. The contract kicks in for the 2011-12 season, starting at roughly $6.5 million. With the maximum 10.5-percent raises allowed, the increases will look something like $7.18 (year 2), $7.9 (year 3), $8.76 (year 4) and $9.68 (year 5). There is no doubt (even with a new CBA) that Conley would have received an offer starting at least $6 million.

2. The only way Conley can exceed $40 million (i.e. the $45 million that national media was given by Conley's agent) is for him to produce what was described to me as "elite level PG statistics" AND the Griz must be winning 50-plus regular-season games AND having success in the playoffs. That means the bonus package is tied to individual and team greatness.

3. Another win/win in the deal is that there is deferred money in the deal. That'll help the Grizzlies' cash flow when their payroll is enormous. Zach Randolph came to Memphis with deferred money, which made it a little easier to absorb his contract.

Conley will receive his market value on the front end. And the Grizzlies got a little creative with this early signing realizing they'll have important business with Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and O.J. Mayo.

I do think someone will be sacrificed in the long run. Unless the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement reduces length of guaranteed contracts /player salaries and includes better revenue sharing, then I tend to believe Mayo will be the odd man out because of sheer timing for his payday.

But that's another topic. Conley will be a Grizzlies for a long a good while.

Count me among those who believe --- all things considered -- this is a good thing.

http://blogs.commercialappeal.com/the_m ... tract.html

MayoInMemphis will need to change his screen name within the next year lol.

[BarbaGrizz]

That´s why we´ll have a lockout next year. Conley shouldn´t get 9M per year based in just 3 games.

[guille_4]

Am I the only one that believes Memphis are overplaying their players? I cant wait to see how much they will pay Marc Gasol and OJ Mayo. Surely not less than Conley.