Memphis Grizzlies: 3 Teams Who Should Consider Trading For Mike Conley After Early Postseason Exits
By Chris Kern
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz could definitely use Mike Conley on their roster. They battled defensively and had some success guarding James Harden and the Houston Rockets high potent offense, but they were unable to score enough points in this series.
A lot of that has to do with Donovan Mitchell‘s struggles, but the team as a whole didn’t get the job done on the offensive end. If they were to add Conley to the mix that would be a huge offensive boost without losing anything on the defensive end of the floor.
The Jazz has the majority of their roster back, but they do have an opening at point guard that needs to be addressed. They could make a run at Kemba Walker in free agency, but trading for Conley could be the most realistic option.
They have Mitchell on his rookie contract through the next two seasons so they won’t need to worry about paying him which gives them the opportunity to acquire Mike Conley’s big money deal for the next two seasons.
They will need to send a player back to make money work and the obvious candidate is Derrick Favors. He is a good big man, but in today’s NBA it’s becoming clear that small ball lineups are the way to go.
Utah has to be the current favorites to make a deal for Conley. They were the favorites prior to the trade deadline and they also have already made it known that they are planning to make another push for him this summer.
It seems that it will take two first-round picks to make it happen and they could be willing to do that. They have the 23rd pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and if they get Conley they should be confident in their ability to finish higher in the standings.
The Grizzlies may prefer a young player though rather than two first-round picks and two players they could be interested in are Dante Exum and Grayson Allen. It will be interesting to see how the Grizzlies new front office values Conley and what they expect in return.