Memphis Grizzlies: Mike Conley injury ramifications

The Memphis Grizzlies made it official after two and a half months of confusing updates: Mike Conley will miss the rest of the 2017-18 NBA season.

Nov. 14, 2017. The Memphis Grizzlies were 7-7 and their head coach was still David Fizdale. There was hope that this season, the team could continue its streak of seven straight playoff appearances behind stellar play from Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.

Then, devastation. The team announced that Conley would be re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks with an Achilles strain. Then two weeks came and went.

Then two months came and went.

A shocking 77 days of no Mike Conley later, general manager Chris Wallace made the announcement to season ticket holders that Conley would be out for the remainder of the season with a small bone protrusion in his left heel. The Grizzlies have gone 11-24 in his absence so far.

The injury has many ramifications for Memphis. The first and most obvious one is that they will be without their star point guard for the remainder of the season. This is a bad thing if you want the team to win and push for the playoffs again; but given that they are 18-31, Mike Conley’s time away from the court should only help them lose games and improve their draft position.

What it also does is allow the team to officially focus on next season. Gasol will presumably get more rest down the final stretch of the season, and guys on expiring contracts like Tyreke Evans and Brandan Wright become instantly available for trades with other teams.

A few of the Grizzlies’ younger point guards will presumably get more playing time going forward. Andrew Harrison probably hops into the starting lineup with Mario Chalmers as a backup, with the focus being on giving Harrison time to develop and see what he can do. However, there is also an opportunity to give two-way contract player Kobi Simmons some reserve minutes if they want to see what they have with him.

Conley still has three more years of the five-year, $153 million contract he signed in the summer of 2016. His large contract will make him hard to move, so Memphis will likely keep him and try to build around him going forward.

Next: 2017-18 Week 16 NBA Power Rankings

We can all hope for a speedy recovery for Conley. With him at his current level of skill, the Grizzlies may be playing at a competitive level next season. If not, they could be in trouble as a franchise. We will need to wait and see.