Kyle Lowry Proves Memphis Grizzlies Did Right By Keeping Mike Conley
With yet another poor playoff performance, Kyle Lowry further confirms the Memphis Grizzlies made the right decision by sticking with Mike Conley.
On Saturday, Kyle Lowry and his second-seeded Toronto Raptors lost Game 1 of their playoff matchup with the Orlando Magic. Though the Memphis Grizzlies did not qualify for the NBA Playoffs, Lowry’s postseason struggles serve as confirmation that the Grizzlies made the best decision by keeping Mike Conley in 2009.
In Saturday’s Game 1, Lowry went 0/7 from the field for a total of zero points, though he produced seven rebounds, eight assists, and two steals en route to a +11 rating — the highest on his team by far. Still, given his NBA All-Star status and the playoff moment, going scoreless is unacceptable.
Kyle Lowry began his NBA career as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies via the 2006 NBA Draft. This was one season before the franchise drafted Mike Conley. Once both players were on the same roster, the Grizzlies were presented with a major predicament. Who should they keep? After all, they could not keep both of them as the two point guards were deserving of a large sum of minutes and dollars.
Memphis’ final decision resulted in Kyle Lowry being traded to the Houston Rockets in 2009, making way for Mike Conley to become the Grizzlies’ efficient floor general for 12 total seasons and counting.
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In speaking of efficiency, Conley has proved time and time again that the Memphis Grizzlies made the correct decision by dealing Lowry in favor of “Captain Clutch.” Mike has been a stellar two-way performer that has only improved as his role has experienced increasing responsibility over the years. Despite the lack of All-Star label, Conley has been the more productive player of the two point guards.
For starters, Mike Conley boasts regular season career averages of 14.9 points on 44.1% shooting (37.5% from beyond the arc), 3.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.3 steals in 32.6 minutes per game. On the other hand, the five-time All-Star — Kyle Lowry — has achieved regular season career numbers of 14.4 points on 42.4% shooting (36.7% from deep), 4.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.4 steals in 31.3 minutes per contest.
In regular season action alone, both Lowry and Conley are nearly identical players. Even when considering efficiency, there lies less than a 1.0 difference in career Player Efficiency Rating (PER). Plus, there is a 0.1% difference in career usage percentage (in favor of Lowry, too). The identicality does not stop once postseason contributions are brought into the conversation.
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Since landing in Toronto and being the Raptors’ starting point guard, Kyle Lowry has produced playoff career averages of 17.6 points on 41.5% field goal shooting (33.8% from long-range), 4.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.4 steals in 37.3 minutes per game. He has notched a record of 21-30 in playoff games he has appeared in. Alternatively, Mike Conley owns playoff career numbers of 16.5 points on 41.4% shooting (31.7% from deep), 3.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.4 steals in 37.4 minutes per outing. Mike has earned a 29-30 record in the playoff games he has played in.
In looking at Kyle Lowry’s scoreless night this past Saturday, this is where Mike Conley begins to slip ahead. The Toronto Raptors are known for postseason disappointments, which led to former Raptors head coach Dwane Casey reaching termination one year ago. Toronto has been a terrific regular season squad with Lowry manning the point, but he has had some key flops at the wrong time inside the NBA Playoffs. Game 1 of 2019’s first round definitely brings uneasy feelings to Lowry and the Raptors organization.
This was the first time in Kyle Lowry’s playoff career that he went scoreless. This follows his last postseason single game performance of five total points — dating back to last season in a second round sweep in favor of the Cleveland Cavaliers — in a closeout game. Ouch!
While Lowry and Conley are very even in nearly all aspects of the game, Mike’s consistency and clutch gene in big playoff moments give him a slight advantage over Kyle. Mike Conley has been labeled “Captain Clutch” for some very good reasons.
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It is safe to say the Memphis Grizzlies could not have gone wrong by keeping Mike Conley or Kyle Lowry. Both guys are consistently superb over the course of each 82-game season. If you were to play Mike in the Eastern Conference, he would probably find the same team and individual successes which have found Kyle. This is one decision the Grizzlies’ Front Office did not fumble.