preface
Mike Conley, who has always been known for his veteranness, also made mistakes in key moments in the playoffs, a step violation that put an end to the Jazz's playoff journey. No one would have thought that a veteran who had been in the field for a long time would behave like this, and anyone could make such a mistake, but he could not. As the Jazz's biggest reinforcement in the past five years, the original team hoped that Kang would use his experience to shine in this Jazz team, but he did not expect that he dragged the team's hind legs, but Conley is a link that the Jazz team cannot give up, and now he is like a chicken rib, tasteless, and it is a pity to abandon it.
The sadness of the little ball city
As a traditional strong team, the Utah Jazz has been able to maintain long-term competitiveness thanks to their draft, since the beginning of black and white, the Jazz's stars have hardly been broken, but the only free agent to join the team is probably only Carlos Boozer. In addition, another important reinforcement for the Jazz in the 21st century is Mike Conley, who averaged 21.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game for the Grizzlies in the season before Conley joined the Jazz, which is undoubtedly an All-Star player, which is why the Jazz would rather trade him to the team for a five-for-one, and eat his big contract.
In fact, Conley has never been named to the All-Star Team in his career, and the Jazz have been able to get him in large part because Conley is not famous. In fact, in the body of Conley, the player, all reflect the sadness of the small-ball city team, in the summer of 2016, the Memphis Grizzlies signed a 5-year 153 million US dollar contract, and he also became the first player in the history of the NBA to break the 150 million mark, which is really an unexpected thing, after all, how much ability to take is the way to renew the NBA, Conley is obviously not worthy of the first high salary in history.
And the reason why Memphis did this, in large part, is because this small-ball real team can not attract superstars at all, they have no way, can only support the salary of the self-selected meritorious player of Conley' team, which is actually a means of recruiting superstars, to prove to the outside world that we are not short of money, as long as you come to have a contract with enough salary, but so far, the Grizzlies still have no one to vote, until the selected Morant, this team let people see the expectations of the championship, and Conley with the passage of time, His contract turned out to be a quality contract, which was eventually signed by the Jazz.
Even in the jazz in the past few years, Conley did not show the level of the star, but the Jazz still chose to renew his contract, last year to Conley 3 years 68.04 million US dollars, this is also a helpless move, after all, the Utah Jazz want to compete for the championship, only Gobert and Mitchell is far from enough, Conley although not a superstar, but at least there is an all-star level of strength, if not and Conley to renew the contract, I am afraid that no one else can make up for Conley's role, the reason why the Jazz do not dare to gamble, In large part, it's because the Jazz's small-ball market doesn't attract stars, Salt Lake City isn't a big city, and like Cleveland, no one wants to come here to play, and it's not realistic to expect other members to come. So renewing Conley is a last resort for the Jazz, and they would never have done so if there was a plan B.
No more courage than it was then
Just five years ago, Conley was still regarded by the outside world as an All-Star legacy, and the data could not reflect the strength of the player, but after five years, Conley was indeed no longer brave, because his age was indeed older. The 34-year-old Conley, himself is not outstanding in stature, a short guard can be in the league for so long has not been easy, and now he has gradually faded the aura of stardom, more and more like an ordinary starting player routine, but what the Jazz did not expect is that Conley's decline is so fast.
After playing for the Jazz for three years, Conley's attendance in the first two seasons has always been substandard, not only in the regular season, but also in the playoffs to varying degrees. Conley played 72 games this year, but his stats were the worst since the 12-13 season, averaging just 13.7 points and 5.3 assists per game. In the past, Conley's selling point was simple, he played very steadily and low-key, basically did not make mistakes, and the stability was comparable to Paul. However, with his mistakes in the final game of the playoffs this season, the title of Mr. Conley is gone, and it seems that even his proudest big picture has disappeared, Conley is old, he is really not the Grizzlies of his youth.
However, Conley can get old, but the Jazz have no remedy, in the free agent market, the Jazz at most dig up role players, want to get superstars is not realistic. The team's salary space has been locked, Gobert, Mitchell, Conley three people contract a year close to one hundred million, it is clear that none of these three people have their own contracts. The 30-year-old Conley can still exchange five for one, but the 34-year-old Conley can hardly get back any useful chips. The Jazz really rushed, should not be so generous to give the contract, seemingly tied the three people together, in fact, the three people do not have the strength to compete for the championship.
Of course, a round of the series can not say that Conley is completely useless, but as mentioned above, Conley will be 35 years old next year, the age is here, no one will escape the palm of the old man of time, Conley has no capital to come again.
epilogue
Conley will most likely remain in the Jazz next season, although Conley's contract is not garbage, but it is definitely not a high quality, if the Jazz really want to deal with it or can deal with it. But what should they do without Conley? The Jazz are not short of money, and they have also smashed a lot in order to compete for the championship, but they have not seen any effect at all, but they have regressed year by year. But for Conley, he has only been selected as an All-Star player once in his career, and his salary has earned more than 200 million, a successful person!