Getty Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell
The Utah Jazz finished 5th in the Western Conference this last season with a 50-32 record. They would also be eliminated in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs, after five series against the Houston Rockets.
This past offseason, the Jazz struck a deal with the Memphis Grizzles sending Grayson Allen, Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver, and two first-round picks, including the No. 23 overall selection in the 2019 draft, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The second pick will convey in the late lottery in 2020 or 2021 or become “lightly protected” in future years, per Wojnarowski. The deal became official on July 6.
Conley spent 12 seasons in with the Memphis Grizzlies after the team selected him with the 4th pick out of Ohio State University. He would go on to start 758 of his 788 career games and stamping his name in their record books along with Marc Gasol during their time in Memphis. The Grizzles moved Gasol at last year’s trade deadline.
With Utah making a move to bring Conley in, it will give them a much-needed upgrade at the point guard position and pairing him with raising star Donovan Mitchell. Throughout his career, Conley has been to be a quiet leader in the locker room
Conley’s Former Teammate Delon Wright Talks About His Leadership
” You don’t always get to see his leadership because he is a quiet guy, but behind the scene, he was rooting for everybody. Even when I came in, there weren’t any competitive feelings because you get that from some guys when they come over,” Delon Wright told Fanatics View.
“He helped me every single day and tried to make me better. So, that is something a lot of people don’t get to see and he is a very unselfish guy, and he is a great community guy,” said Wright.
Greg Oden on Mike Conley’s Leadership
“Mike is a quiet assassin. He is not going to talk much he will be one of the best leaders that you will ever know. He will show you by his actions, but he is also a point guard that will make sure you are involved. However, if you are not in great position in the final seconds of the shot clock, he doesn’t have a problem taking that shot,” Greg Oden told me.
How Will he fit Into Utah This Season?
” He is the type of person that naturally fit into every situation that is presented to him,” said Oden.
“I think he will fit in perfectly with those guys, it is a winning organization and a team that is trying to build a great atmosphere as a winning culture. To bring in a guy like Mike, who is a pros’ pro, who comes to work every day and gives 100 percent I think he will do great in Utah with the Jazz.”
ESPN NBA Analyst Kendrick Perkins Thinks the Jazz is a Sleeper to Win NBA Finals
“I look at Utah that’s my Dark Horse team and the reason being that they are well-coached, it hard to win in Utah, they have the Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who is arguably one of the top five centers in the league, ” said Kendrick Perkins on The Jump.
I love their offseason additions in Jeff Green, Mike Conley, Bogdanovic, and Ed Davis. You have those guys and I’m a big fan of Royce O’Neale as a young special talent and last but not least you look at Donovan Mitchell, who I think is going to have a great year this year, and it is hard to win Utah. Utah is deep they have all the pieces that need as far as defense presence, shooting, point guard position. Whatever you need out of them they have it. So, I wouldn’t be surprised they are my sleeper if they happen to win the NBA title,” said Perkins.