The Memphis Grizzlies secured the rights to the No. 2 overall pick in the highly hyped 2019 NBA Draft, and they are reportedly locked in on Murray State point guard Ja Morant.
Morant projects to be Memphis' point guard of the future, and with that in mind, the organization could be looking to move its present point guard, Mike Conley. While Conley could certainly provide Morant with a veteran mentor, the Grizzlies might be better served by moving him for some return assets that would help jump-start their rebuild around Morant and second-year forward Jaren Jackson Jr.
Though Conley comes with a hefty price tag (he's owed $67 million over the next two seasons), the veteran guard still has some suitors. According to a report from the Sporting News, the Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat are among the teams expected to pursue a trade for Conley over the offseason. For Memphis, the top priority in any potential trade involving Conley is the bounty it would collect in return.
From the Sporting News:
The Jazz, as has been reported by Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer, could reignite their push to trade for Conley after nearly doing so at the deadline in February. But the Grizzlies are looking to add quality draft picks, and this year's pick from Utah is No. 23 - with the Jazz's core of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, it's hard to imagine the Jazz picking in the top 20 anytime soon.
League sources told Sporting News this week that one team to watch in the Conley hunt is Miami, which is waiting on Goran Dragic's decision on his $19 million player option for next year. Heat president Pat Riley has long coveted Conley - Miami was interested in signing Conley before he re-signed with Memphis three years ago - and still wants to bring him to South Florida.
...
One last potential suitor is the Mavericks, who would like to be a player in free agency but are wary that some of their top targets - Khris Middleton, Tobias Harris - increasingly look as though they'll re-sign with their current teams. Dallas could still add a player through a trade, however.
Like the Heat, the Mavs were very interested in signing Conley three years ago. Because he is a good perimeter shooter who can play off the ball and defend, Conley would be a good fit next to rookie star Luka Doncic.
The Grizzlies are the only organization that Conley has suited up for over the course of his career, as they drafted him with the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft. He is the organization's all-time leader in several categories, including games played, points, assists and steals.
At 31, Conley's best days in the NBA are likely behind him, but he is still a quality, starting-caliber player, and one who can continue to contribute. In 70 games for the Grizzlies last season, Conley averaged 21.1 points, 6.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 33.5 minutes of action per game.
Though the Grizzlies are open to the idea of moving Conley over the offseason, they're not necessarily in a rush. According to ESPN, Memphis could explore playing Conley and Morant together in their backcourt to start the season in order to ease Morant's transition as they continue to pursue a viable landing spot for Conley. We'll find out soon what Memphis has planned as free agency starts in the beginning of July.
