Beale Street Bears’ Memphis Grizzlies roundtable: ‘Into the Bears’ Den’

@DWangggg: Was Mike Conley’s $153m contract worth it? 

Ian Pierno (@IanPierno):

Yes, yes and a little more yes. I’ll agree with anyone who says it doesn’t make sense for Mike Conley to be the highest-paid player in the NBA, but he won’t be for long. The cap for 2017-2018 is going to surpass $100,000,000, and that means max contracts will be also, obviously, be higher. This should bump Conley down to around tenth for top-paid players in the league.

Setting the contract figure aside, the ramifications of not paying Conley would’ve been huge. It’s unlikely that Chandler Parsons signs with the Grizzlies, and soon Memphis is left with no shot at the playoffs and absolutely no backcourt depth. Rather than having the opportunity to learn under a savvy veteran like Conley, rookie Wade Baldwin IV would’ve been thrown right into the fire. Despite no appearances in The Finals, the Grizzlies have prided themselves in consistency, making the playoffs six years in a row. Being a smaller market, Memphis wouldn’t have been able to afford going through a rebuilding phase.

The Grizzlies aren’t going to win the Western Conference or even likely contend for the 2-seed, but are preparing a rotation that’ll shock many. None of this happens if Conley jumps ship.

Taylor Buckley (@sctaylor94):

Can I answer yes and no? Is Conley worth a $153m contract? As of right now, no. But is he worth that to the Grizzlies? My answer is yes. Conley’s play up until now, in my opinion, doesn’t warrant that kind of money. Now I know that when the cap goes up again in the future, Conley will no longer be the highest paid player. But until then he is, whether he deserves it or not

For the Grizzlies, though, paying Conley the $153m is a no-brainer. You get to keep you core together with the veteran guard. It also gives rookies like Wade Baldwin IV more time to grow and adapt to the rigors of an NBA season.

So, while signing Conley to that kind of deal doesn’t make any sense at all, for the Grizzlies it makes all the sense in the world.

Mike Parrott (@mikeparrott_):

In terms of the market, no. In terms of Memphis, yes.  A player who is barely a top 10 player at his position shouldn’t have the most expensive contract of all time, however due to the lack of pull Memphis has a free-agent destination, the contract was worth it. Conley now brings that pull that the city cannot bring as seen with Parsons and hopefully next year. Next offseason he’ll no longer have the biggest contract with the new cap (Durant will probably be the owner of the biggest), but it’s still a huge risk paying a point guard who’s never averaged higher than 17 PPG a contract that is only comparable to Lebron, Kobe, and Jordan in NBA history. 

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Parker Fleming (@PAKA_FLOCKA):

Sure. Conley is an outstanding leader and a top-10 point guard. He is a major key for the Grizzlies success. However, realistically, the only players worth that much money are LeBron, Steph, KD, Westbrook, Anthony Davis and *maybe* Kawhi Leonard.

If the Grizzlies did not sign Chandler Parsons or any other player around his caliber, Conley’s signing would be a flop. Replace Parsons with offseason incumbent SF Matt Barnes, and they would still be on the bubble for the playoffs, even if they re-signed Mike Conley. Adding a player like Chandler Parsons made re-signing Conley a must, no matter the price.

Jacob Collins (@jacobcollins34): Yes! The Grizz had to retain Captain Clutch if they had any hopes of continuing the good vibes they have been building on for years. His re-signing set the base for Chandler Parsons signing in Memphis. Conley, Parsons and Gasol are a 45+ win nucleus when healthy. Given the Memphis market, it was a no brainer to re-sign him. Adding youth and pieces that fit those guys going forward should keep Memphis in that 3-6 range. When you are on the first tier down from title contender status, all it takes is a few breaks and the right moves to give you an opportunity to sneak in.