Earlier this summer, the Boston Celtics signed Mike Conley to a one-year veteran minimum contract. Conley was acquired to add depth to the Celtics’ point guard rotation.
At 39-years-old, Conley will be entering his 20th season in the NBA. As such, Joe Mazzulla can’t expect the veteran guard to provide too many minutes on a nightly basis. Nevertheless, Brad Stevens clearly values the experience and leadership Conley brings to the table.
In fact, during a recent episode of ‘Beneath The Banners,” Stevens shared his thought process regarding Conley’s addition.
“People talk about veteran leadership, and they talk about how important vets are,” Stevens said. “And my argument to that would be good vets are really important. Guys that really have a great understanding of where they are in their career, how they impact winning and the appropriate amount of expectations from the individual standpoint, and I think that that’s what you get with Mike. And he still, every time he plays, has a big impact on winning.”
Stevens continued.
“And so I think the balance of being able to play at a high level (and) not needing to play every minute of every game is an incredibly valuable thing, and it’s usually reserved for guys that have a good perspective on life. And Mike does — he certainly has that.”
Conley played in 54 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves last season. He averaged 4.5 points, 2.9 assists and 1.7 rebounds per game. Conley shot 33.5% from the field and 3.7% from deep, while playing an average of 18.4 minutes per night.
Stevens Understands Celtics’ Need For Bench Depth
Later in the same episode of ‘Beneath The Banners,’ Stevens addressed Boston’s decision to part ways with Jaylen Brown. During the discussion, he noted how NBA teams now need high-level depth on the bench.
“I think that ultimately, it has created quite a challenge, and as that’s happened, the game has also changed,” Stevens said. “And with the game changing, you need more people to play at a high level. You need a bench that’s deep. And so those two things don’t necessarily go together when you’re talking about, OK, you have to be under a threshold, and you need as many good players as humanly possible, right?”
Stevens continued.
“So you have to really be good around the role players, the guys that you think can continue to develop and grow, guys that are willing to play a role that might be older and more accomplished, and then you just build the best team that you can.”
This summer, Boston added Paul George, Conley and Mitchell Robinson. Conley and Robinson will join Hugo Gonzalez, Jordan Walsh, Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, Ron Harper Jr, Sam Hauser and Baylor Scheierman, as Boston’s primary rotation talents.
When factoring in the room for internal development, there’s no doubt that the rotation is deeper and more dynamic than last season.
Celtics Still Need Another Guard
Given Conley’s age, there’s an argument to be made that the Celtics still need another guard in the rotation. Sure, Jayson Tatum will eat up a lot of the touches next season, but having another ball-handler who can ease Tatum’s workload would be ideal.
Boston still has its 15th roster spot open, and another two-way spot. Milos Uzan, who impressed during Summer League, could potentially help plug some of the gap within Boston’s guard rotation.
However, we’ll have to wait and see how he performs during training camp and preseason before we know for sure.
Brad Stevens Reveals What Makes Mike Conley So Valuable to Celtics