Mike Conley trade grades: Jazz vault into contender status with upgrade at point guard

Jordan Greer

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Mike Conley trade grades: Jazz vault into contender status with upgrade at point guard image

The Grizzlies' "Grit'N'Grind" era is over.

Memphis will send Mike Conley to the Jazz as part of a trade that had been looming since the February deadline, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania. The Grizzlies will receive a package of players and draft picks to help jumpstart their rebuild, and they will likely select Ja Morant as their point guard of the future with the No. 2 overall pick at the 2019 NBA Draft.

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What does this trade mean for the Jazz and Grizzlies moving forward?

Here are the reported details of the deal and a breakdown of the short- and long-term ramifications for each side.

Mike Conley trade grades

Jazz receive: Mike Conley

Grizzlies receive: Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver, Grayson Allen, No. 23 pick in 2019 NBA Draft, future first-round pick

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Jazz: A-

Utah pursued Conley at the trade deadline, and for good reason. He is the exact kind of upgrade at point guard that turns the Jazz into a real contender in the Western Conference.

Conley can play with the ball in his his hands or off the ball (39.8 percent on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers last season) whenever Donovan Mitchell operates as the primary initiator. Conley can create offense in a variety of ways (21.1 points, 6.4 assists per game), something this Jazz team desperately needed.

Mitchell and Conley must learn each other's tendencies and what works best. There could be growing pains, of course. That's something two good locker room guys should be able to iron out in time.

On the defensive end, Conley will fit right in with Utah's unit. He finished in the top 10 among point guards in ESPN's Defensive Real Plus-Minus, and he will only improve one of the best defenses in the league. Conley, Mitchell, Joe Ingles, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert — good luck trying to score against that starting five.

And that's another added benefit of this trade for the Jazz. They didn't lose any assets they really value. The loss of Crowder and Korver will hurt Utah's spacing, but Favors is more valuable than both of them. Allen and the picks are future pieces the Jazz don't need because the mission is to compete right now. The future first-rounder is worth watching, though. Could Utah have pulled this off without including it?

Yes, Conley's contract is expensive ($32.5 million in 2019-20 and $34.5 million in 2020-21), but good players cost money. It's only a two-year commitment, not a four-year max, and Conley remains a productive guard at age 31.

This trade won't create the same level of headlines as Anthony Davis to the Lakers, but it definitely will make a significant impact on the Western Conference playoff race. Don't be shocked if the Jazz are one of the last teams standing next year.

Grizzlies: B

After the Grizz sent Marc Gasol to the Raptors back in February, it seemed as though Conley would be the next to go so Memphis could embrace a youth movement. Instead, the Grizzlies kept Conley through the rest of the season despite discussing a deal with the Jazz, finally ending the back-and-forth with Wednesday's trade.

Maybe a move at the deadline would have yielded a better package, but this is a surprisingly sizable haul for the Grizzlies.

Crowder and Korver represent expiring contracts as opposed to cogs in the rotation. Allen didn't earn a ton of minutes under Jazz coach Quin Snyder as a rookie, but the 23-year-old is worth a shot for his shooting alone, which will be needed next to Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.

The No. 23 pick presents some options either in a trade or simply to draft a prospect. Sporting News' Chris Stone had Cameron Johnson landing at that spot in his latest Mock Draft, and he could still make sense there. The other first-rounder has a number of protections on it, per The Daily Memphian's Chris Herrington.

The Grizzlies should expect the pick to transfer in 2022 or later. Barring some sort of catastrophic event, the Jazz will avoid the lottery.

Perhaps the most important thing for the front office is having cap flexibility. Conley's contract is gone, Crowder and Korver are on expiring deals and Chandler Parsons will also become a free agent after making $25.1 million in 2019-20. That's a nice situation financially.

Sure, the Grizzlies could have been pushed harder for a Conley trade earlier. But with Morant and Jackson set up to be the franchise's dynamic duo, the future is bright in Memphis.

Jordan Greer

Jordan Greer Photo

Jordan Greer has been with The Sporting News since 2015. He previously worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is a graduate of Westminster College and Syracuse University.