Conley’s Evolution From Memphis Mike to Mountain Mike

Conley is having an elite impact on the Jazz. (via ESPN.com)

Jazz fans have seen many facets of Mike Conley: Let’s explore the veteran guard’s transformation from a star-level player in Memphis to the Conley that is posting elite impact numbers in his second season with the Utah Jazz.

Memphis Mike

Before being traded to Utah in the 2019 offseason, Conley was coming off a bounce back year with the Grizzlies, averaging a career high 21.1 ppg after dealing with injuries the prior season. When the Jazz acquired Conley, they envisioned that version of Memphis Mike as the secondary creator to make Donovan Mitchell’s life easier. The Jazz had just come off a brutal playoff loss to the Houston Rockets, who swarmed Mitchell on defense, and Utah’s other players couldn’t make enough shots to make Houston pay. It’s hard to make a deep playoff run with only one offensive star.

While it took Conley some time to find to get comfortable during the regular season, he fulfilled his role come playoff time in Utah’s matchup against the Nuggets, averaging 20 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds on 67% TS. The effect on Mitchell was also clear: Donovan in that playoff series alongside Mike in the bubble: 36/5/5 on 70% TS. Donovan without Mike in the prior year’s Houston series: 21/5/3 on 42% TS. That’s exactly what the Jazz were hoping Memphis Mike would unlock.

Mike Conley, trade machine piece

Even after a strong bubble showing, Mike’s fit on the team was still in question by some fans. A slumping player quickly becomes a popular target on trade machines, and Conley was certainly featured in many fake trades, even after his strong playoffs. Now that Conley is surging, the narrative has shifted to “how can the Jazz keep him on the team?” He’s playing so well, he may even price himself outside of Utah’s budget.

It’s easy to disparage fake trades in hindsight, but they shouldn’t be dismissed completely. Conley struggled at the beginning of last season. Then when he missed time due to injury, Mitchell excelled as the primary ball-handling guard. Bojan Bogdanovic had a breakout season, proving to be a solid second option. If Mitchell is going to take the reins eventually, why not trade Conley for value before he moves on? It’s not an unreasonable question, but Mike’s recent play has changed the equation.

Mike Conley, floor general

Mike was a borderline All-Star caliber player in Memphis. But Conley is doing some new things in Utah.

Like Jordan Clarkson, Mike is converting mid-range shots into three point attempts. Despite playing two and a half fewer minutes than his career average, he’s posting a career high 6.8 long range attempts a night. Last season 42% of his shots were threes. Now it’s up to 51%.

He’s also canning them at a career-best 42% accuracy. This may feel unsustainable, but his corner threes are actually below average. His improvement comes from above the break threes, where he’s shooting early in the shot clock and whenever a defender goes under on the screen. At the beginning of last year, Conley emphasized integrating with the team and didn’t look for his own shot as much. Now he hunts three point opportunities and takes them without hesitation.

Mike will fire off a three early in the shot clock if given any air space

Or he’ll use space from a Rudy Gobert pick to shoot without hesitation:

His signature floater is working now. Typically it’s not the most efficient shot, but for Mike it makes sense. It’s a more reliable tool for the 6-foot-1, 33-year-old guard than rim attempts, and it’s a shot he converted 46% of the time in his final season as a Grizzly. Last year, though, his short mid-range touch deserted him: 36%, per Cleaning the Glass. This year he’s shooting a career-best 54%, an important ingredient to keeping defenders honest as he enters the paint on pick-and-rolls.

Part of this jump could be credited to Gobert (a recurring theme). The pair’s chemistry is apparent, and the threat of a rolling Rudy is making it easier for Mike to take the floater. In this play, a pump fake creates the opportunity for a driving floater:

While some shooting numbers may regress to the mean, his free throw percentage can only go up. Altogether, his per-36 scoring number of 19.7 ppg is his fourth best in his 14-year career.

Mike appears to be comfortable in his second Jazz season, always making the right read. His assist percentage is up from 23.1 to 29.9, a massive jump. At 5.9 assists per game, he nearly has the highest assists per game average of any Jazz guard in the Quin Snyder era. Ricky Rubio once averaged 6.1 apg, which also came in his second year in Snyder’s system, after taking a year to familiarize himself with the reads. 

Mike Conley, feisty defender

Conley is also providing an eye-popping top 5 defensive impact. Speaking of Gobert, Conley’s influence on the defense is probably skewed by the quantity of minutes he shared with the two-time Defensive Player of the Year. It can be difficult to quantify defensive impact with stats, especially when Mike plays most of his minutes with Gobert. (Also, be sure to check out Ben Dowsett’s video breakdown on Conley’s and Gobert’s defensive and offensive chemistry.)

But Mike has been a feisty defender, navigating screens, poking the ball away, and blitzing passing lanes. Last year his steal and fouls rates were careers lows, but now they’re back up to his career norm.

His 3.7 rebounds per game is a career best, which could be small sample noise or a result of Utah’s record number of three point attempts bouncing away from the rim.

His numbers are impressive, but Mike passes the eye test as well. When Conley’s in the game, everything feels under control. Mitchell continues to wow with his raw talent and potential, but Conley is a steadying veteran presence.

Mike Conley, Chris Paul look-alike

Speaking of steadying veteran presences: last season Chris Paul made the All-Star and All-NBA 2nd teams. Both honors were well-deserved as he led an overperforming Thunder team that was written off as a lottery team before the season.

Interestly, Mike Conley’s stats this season are eerily similar to Paul’s production that led him to all-league honors last season:

Mike Conley… All-Star?

If Conley continues this level of play should he be considered for All-Star or even All-NBA honors? As has been the story for Mike, it’s unlikely, even if he deserves it. For one, Paul’s reputation and accolades are in another tier (10x All-Star, 9x All-NBA, 9x All-Defensive). It’s much easier to repeat as an All-Star or All-NBA honoree than it is to crack the list for the first time at 33. Usually a few extra All-Star slots are added via injury replacements, but if an actual game doesn’t happen this year, then it becomes even tougher to make the team.

The field is crowded guards aspiring to All-Star status. Damian Lillard, Steph Curry and Luka Doncic are likely locks for three of the four guard spots. Incumbents like, Mitchell, Paul and Devin Booker will compete for the final spot. There are two wildcard roster spots, but these can be filled by any position. Even if both spots go to guards, Jamal Murray, Ja Morant, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are all averaging 20-plus as they look for their first All-Star nods. CJ McCollum was playing like an All-Star before he got hurt, and former Eastern Conference All-Star Victor Oladipo is now in the West as well.

All-NBA is even more competitive, with only six spots for guards, and with Eastern Conference stars James Harden, Bradley Beal, Ben Simmons and others in the mix.

That said, Mike has a shot. Winning will speak loudest. If the Jazz are in 3rd–6th place when All-Star voting happens, Mitchell has the likely edge among Jazz players because of last year’s appearance, rising stardom, and high scoring numbers. But if Utah is a clear 1st or 2nd seed, they could land mutliple All-Stars and things could get interesting. It’s also worth noting that fans vote for starters and coaches vote for reserves. Perhaps coaches better appreciate Conley’s resume and reputation and finally reward him.

Mountain Mike

Recognition aside, perhaps more than any player besides Mitchell, Conley is the bellwether for Utah’s ceiling this year. Gobert must be Gobert, Mitchell must continue his growth, and the rotation pieces must stay healthy — but if Mike continues playing at this level, anything seems possible.

At first, it appeared that Mountain Mike might be a Conley in decline — still solid, but showing signs of age. This version of Mountain Mike however, looks closer to prime Memphis Mike, but with a revamped shot profile, a modernized play style, and possibly his most talented supporting cast yet.

Some evidence of his growth: Mike is 1st in the league at On/Off Rating at +188 through 16 games, and he tops the league in total RAPTOR at 11.7. Like the Jazz, Conley is going to see ebbs and flows throughout the season. But if these are signs of the new Mountain Mike is, Jazz fans should be very excited.