Mike Conley: Trade Might Not Be Popular, But Practical

Since being drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies with the fourth overall pick in 2007, Mike Conley has become a key part of the team’s identity and culture. He is their undisputed floor general and makes the offense run so that Marc Gasol, Tony Allen and Zach Randolph can work their magic on the defensive end.

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Conley is “grit and grind” to the core and the Grizzlies just aren’t the same team when he isn’t playing.

All you need to do is watch how Memphis played without Conley in the lineup during the playoffs this year to see that.

During the playoffs Conley averaged 14.4 points, five assists and 1.1 rebounds in the eight games he appeared in. More importantly though, Conley provided the leadership and spark that the Grizzlies needed to put a serious scare into the Golden State Warriors, a team many thought would sweep Memphis in four games.

When Conley broke multiple bones in his face that required surgery to repair, it was the type of injury that would have laid up most players for the duration of the playoffs. Just eight days after surgery, Conley was back on the court and scored 22 points on the same night Stephen Curry was awarded the NBA MVP trophy.

So it’s clear that Conley is a very important part of what makes Memphis tick.

Unfortunately, the Grizzlies may have no choice but to trade him.

Conley is going into the final year of the five-year, $40 million deal he signed in 2010, a contract that in retrospect was a steal for the Grizzlies. It goes without saying that Memphis would love to sign their star point guard to a contract extension, especially with the Marc Gasol and Kosta Koufos situations still so unclear.

The problem, according to Marc Stein of ESPN, is that Conley has no intention of signing any kind of extension.

"Sources say, furthermore, that they’ve tried to engage Conley in extension talks. More than once.But the five-year, $40 million pact they signed Conley to in 2010 — openly second-guessed all over the NBA map at the time — proved to be too shrewd. So the consensus starting point guard on the league’s All-Underrated Team simply can’t sign an extension, working from the figures on his current deal, that could come close to the sort of offers he’s likely to attract as a 2016 free agent at the age of 28."

The issue is that the same year Conley becomes a free agent the NBA salary cap is expected to skyrocket from it’s current $60 million figure to somewhere in the $90 million range. If Conley were to sign any kind of extension, it’s certain he would be leaving a tremendous amount of money on the table for a guard with his stats and skills.

What all that means is that the Grizzlies front office has to hope they can re-sign Gasol this year and then do the same thing all over again next year with Conley.

Unless they trade him first.

It’s no secret that the NBA is a point guard-rich environment right now. Competent floor general are coming out of the woodwork and while Conley is very good and is a fan favorite in Memphis, the reality is that he is expendable. Unlike Gasol and Allen, who make the Grizzlies defense what it is, Conley’s skills can be replaced and at a much lower cost.

Of course, if Gasol does sign elsewhere and leaves Memphis, the entire situation changes. Re-signing Conley then theoretically wouldn’t be a problem as the Grizzlies will have plenty of money to go around. That is, if Conley would then even still be interested in staying with a franchise that may be looking at the first domino of an impending rebuild.

Once the Gasol situation has been resolved, the Grizzlies will better know where and how to spend their resources. It is becoming evident, however, that for the success and winning to continue in the short term, something salary wise is going to have to give.

Trading Mike Conley might not be the popular way to fix the problem, but it might be the most practical way.

Next: NBA: 5 Playoff Teams Facing Franchise-Altering Summers

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Should The Memphis Grizzlies Consider Trading Mike Conley?

By D. Goodman | May 23, 2015

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