Getty Mike Conley defends Kyle Lowry during a game between the Utah Jazz and the Miami Heat.
Entering an offseason during which they need desperately to address their point guard situation, the New York Knicks look to have a number of options on the table.
The team could look internally and give Immanuel Quickley a legitimate shot to run the show. Down the stretch of 2021-22, he was arguably its best player, logging a 16-5-5 line over the final quarter of the campaign. There are also potential trade and free-agent options in Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, Tyus Jones and more.
If team president Leon Rose looks to swing a deal with another team, one league insider believes that Mitchell’s Jazz could make for good trade partners.
However, the reporter isn’t pitching a move to acquire Mitchell himself. Rather, it was Mike Conley’s name that came up as part of a hypothetical trade with the Knicks.
Fischer: Mike Conley Could Become Available
In his latest round-up of NBA offseason buzz, Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer went deep on the situation in Utah. And while rumblings of a Mitchell mega-trade and/or a Rudy Gobert blockbuster have grown in recent weeks, Fischer’s intel suggests that the Jazz may just be eyeing other moves.
“League personnel speak far more certainly of the Jazz looking to explore moving complementary pieces such as wings Bojan Bogdanovic and Royce O’Neale,” Fischer reported.
He also dropped the following nugget: “That could introduce All-Star point guard Mike Conley into an interesting point guard market that seems to be developing this summer.”
Conley has left his prime behind as a 34-year-old, but he’s playing more efficiently than ever on the offensive end. Over 72 appearances in ’21-22, the one-time All-Star averaged 13.7 points, 5.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game while shooting 40.8% from deep.
And Fischer thinks the Knicks could make a play for him.
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Conley-Fournier Trade Floated
While Fischer noted that it could be time to hand the reins over to Quickley, he also believes that Rose could instead turn one of last summer’s possible missteps into Conley by way of a trade with the Jazz.
Wrote Fischer: “The Knicks could send Evan Fournier to Utah directly in exchange for Conley, bolstering the Jazz’s depleted perimeter rotation while sliding Mitchell over to point guard.”
Fournier wouldn’t solve any of Utah’s defensive issues on the perimeter, but he’s a friend and fellow countryman to Gobert with shooting/scoring prowess that meshes well with Quin Snyder’s system. Bringing him in may make it easier to part with Bogdanovic — who has been one of the Jazz’s biggest defensive liabilities — too.
Finally, the Jazz save more than $4 million next season with the deal.
As relates to the Knicks, Conley is a legitimate point guard who has become a deadeye marksman from the outside. Even at his advanced age, he could be the Knicks’ best floor general since Mark Jackson.
On the other hand, his age and recent injury history need to be taken into account by any team thinking about acquiring him. Especially the Knicks, who already have a pair of 30-plus point guards who were unable to contribute last season in Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose.
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