Utah Jazz: What would a trade for Mike Conley look like?

With trade rumors involving the Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies looking into swapping point guards, let’s take a look at what a trade might look like between the two teams.

We are officially at the start of 2019 NBA Trade Deadline week and the Utah Jazz are once again surrounded in trade rumors.

With the Feb. 7 deadline quickly approaching, there have been multiple names over the past month that the Jazz have been rumored to be interested in adding to the 2018-19 team, including players such as Jabari Parker and Otto Porter Jr.

The latest rumor that has circled Utah ahead of the deadline has involved perhaps an even bigger name: Memphis Grizzlies star point guard Mike Conley.

Prior to the weekend, The New York Times’  Marc Stein reported that the Jazz and Grizzlies have had trade discussions centered around swapping Conley for Utah’s point guard Ricky Rubio.

Although Stein hinted at the fact that trade talks between the two teams seem to be in the early stages, the idea of the two Western Conference point guards swapping sides in a potential trade is an intriguing one.

With the rumors continuing to swirl, including more context into the trade situation in this story by Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake City Tribune, let’s also explore the idea of the trade and what it might look like between the two squads.

Trade breakdown:

After tooling around with different trade scenarios, there’s really only a few that work when it comes to a deal surrounding Conley and Rubio.

One deal that comes to mind is listed above, which includes Utah sending Rubio, backup point guard Dante Exum and a 2019 first round draft pick to Memphis for Conley.

The heart of the deal for the Jazz stems from reports from Larsen’s story in The Salt Lake City Tribune that states they offered the Grizzlies a deal involving Rubio and a 2019 first round pick, but didn’t go into more detail on the other specifics.

The latter portion of the package Utah could offer for Conley includes Exum, who I’m not sure the Jazz would want to necessarily give up, but might have to surrender in order to make the numbers work and contracts add up in a deal.

The trickiest part of any deal of this nature, especially involving Conley, is the current Memphis point guard’s contract situation. Back in 2016, Conley signed a five-year, $153 million deal and is making about $30.5 million in 2018-19. He’s set to make $32.5 million in 2019-20 and $34.5 million in 2020-21.

That type of contract is going to be very difficult to move, and that is part of the reason why Memphis is trying to move on from it and Conley altogether.

To try and make a deal work on Utah’s side of things, Rubio — who is in the final year of his contract and that alone is perhaps enticing enough for Memphis to make a push for him — is making just under $15 million this season.

That contract straight up for Conley obviously wouldn’t work, which is why the Jazz might have to add Exum, who is making $9.6 million per year through 2020-21, for salary purposes. From there, they could end up having to throw in a first round pick to sweeten the pot.

Overall, the thought of Utah acquiring Conley is an enticing one and a move that could help the Jazz as they try and hang on to a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Although Conley is going through somewhat of a down season, he is still a player that could be a key addition to the core surrounding Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert in Salt Lake City.

Making a move for Conley would be an investment for Utah, both because of his contract and the fact that he has a few more seasons left on his deal, but could be one that has many benefits in the end.

Since the Jazz appear less and less likely to want to commit to Rubio long-term or pay him the type of money he is currently making beyond this season, making a trade right now makes the most sense for both sides.