Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley on Thursday declined to exercise the early termination option in his contract, choosing to bypass unrestricted free agency and remain with the Utah Jazz, according to a report from Yahoo’s Chris Haynes.
The move was long expected, considering Conley is owed $34.5 million this coming season, and given the expected tepid nature of the 2020 free agent market.
It also puts to rest any speculation that Conley might restructure his deal with the team in order to gain more long-term money in exchange for a lower annual average value.
Conley was one of the Jazz’s two big offseason moves in 2019, as the team swung a significant trade with the Memphis Grizzlies to acquire him — sending out Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver, Grayson Allen, and two first-round draft picks.
While Conley got off to a rough start in Utah — acknowledging there was some difficulty acclimating after spending a dozen years in Memphis — and was hampered by a hamstring injury, he rounded into form by season’s end, providing the Jazz with the steady hand and deep-ball threat they expected to get. He averaged 14.4 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 40/9% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc.
He also greatly improved his output and efficiency for the Jazz in their first-round playoff series loss to the Denver Nuggets, returning after missing the opening two games to be with his family for the birth of his son and averaging 19.8 points, 5.2 assists, and 2.8 rebounds, while shooting 48.4% from the field and 52.9% from 3-point range.
Conley is now entering the final season of the five-year, $152.6M contract he signed with the Grizzlies in July 2016, and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2021.
NBA Draft notes
On Thursday, the NBA conducted its second batch of Zoom interviews between NBA Draft prospects and the media, with French point guard Theo Maledon, Memphis big man Precious Achiuwa, Florida State wings Devin Vassell and Patrick Williams, Kentucky guard Tyrese Maxey, Maryland center Jalen Smith, and French-American point guard Killian Hayes all taking a turn.
Maledon, a 6-foot-5 combo guard, and Maxey, a 6-3 point guard, both confirmed to The Salt Lake Tribune that they have interviewed with the Jazz’s front office via Zoom, though neither worked out for the team. Maledon added that he did a subsequent interview with the Jazz’s sports psychologist, and suggested that he wouldn’t mind playing for Utah, as having a fellow Frenchman on the roster could significantly ease his transition.
“I feel like I would be fitting in well with that team, adding to a winning culture [built over] the past few years,” Maledon said. “And having a French guy like Rudy Gobert on the team would help, too, for sure.”
That last comment drew a like on Twitter from the All-NBA center.
Maxey, meanwhile, if available, could fit executive vice president Dennis Lindsey’s stated goal of adding good defenders who don’t compromise the team’s spacing. Maxey said he fits the former, feeling he can competently defend the 1-3 positions in the NBA “because of my competitive spirit, my fight, and my cerebral nature.” And though he shot only 29% from deep at Kentucky, Maxey anticipates he’ll be much-improved there in the NBA, as he and a trainer identified a flat shooting arc as the problem, and have worked to remedy it by making 800 shots per day during the past few months.
Hayes, meanwhile, will not be a target for the Jazz barring something unexpected, as he’s widely considered a top-10 pick. Still, as someone who grew up in France, he was asked if he had any kind of relationship with Gobert. He said that even though they were from the same town (Gobert was actually born in Saint-Quentin, while Hayes grew up in Cholet, though both played for the Chole program), they have not yet crossed paths. Hayes said he has gotten advice from fellow Frenchmen Tony Parker (formerly of the Spurs), Sekou Doumbouya (of the Pistons), and Frank Ntilikina (of the Knicks).
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