Mike Conley returning to Utah Jazz?
The Utah Jazz won 52 games this year and finished with the best record in the NBA for the first-time since the 1997-98 season when they were led by Karl Malone and John Stockton. While he may not be their “go-to” guy, Mike Conley has held a huge role with Utah the last two seasons and they would not be the best team in the league record-wise without him.
In Year 14, Conley made the All-Star game for the first-time in his career and averaged 16.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals and shot 41.2% from three-point range, a new career-high three-point shooting percentage.
The veteran point guard is a great two-way factor for Utah and they definitely cannot afford to lose him this offseason. Conley is an unrestricted free agent this summer and is expected to to receive a fair amount of interest league-wide.
The Mavericks and Knicks are two teams that have been said to be interested in the veteran guard, but a handful of other teams would probably entertain the idea of pursuing him in free agency as well.
READ MORE: Predictions for Latest NBA Rumors: Hardaway, Ball, Lowry, Rose, and More
According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, the Jazz are going to do everything they can to keep Mike Conley and three seems to be mutual interest in getting a deal done. Back in February, Conley talked with Jones and stated that he “loved playing in Utah” and “this team is unique.”
Mike Conley is definitely going to be testing his value on the open market and potentially look to get the best deal for himself financially from Utah, but that could make things tough for the Jazz financially. They are already over the salary cap for the 2021-22 season and will likely have to go over the hard cap to keep Mike Conley, leaving the Jazz with virtually no room to bring in any new talents to their team.
READ MORE: NBA Rumors: This Cavaliers-Mavericks sign-and-trade features Jarrett Allen
Overall though, Mike Conley’s production cannot be replicated by anybody else, which is why he is invaluable to this team at the point guard position. Donovan Mitchell may be the MVP of this team, but Conley is one of the most important players for them and that showed in the postseason when the veteran guard was out with a hamstring injury.
Based on the way things are trending right now, it seems very likely that Mike Conley will return to Utah on a new long-term deal. He is the “heart and soul” of this Jazz team and one of their leaders. Letting him go would really throw off their team chemistry and this team is not that far off from being a true contender, which is why they need to keep this group together.
