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Official Re-Sign Mike Conley Thread

The Jazz Wonderbra said:
Resigning Conley OR signing and trading him for a trade exception make lots of sense to me whether we want to keep him or not. Thats because the team is now in the luxury tax. If we lose him, then we must build from within. If we even grab a S&T then we can flip it into assets as the Warriors did with Russell.

Of course this assumes that Ryan Smith doesn't mind the tax.
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Ryan Smith is a young billionaire who owns his hometown team. I sure af believe he bought this team because he wants to bring a championship to his favorite team growing up.
 
I couldn't be happier with Conley's play this season. I still think we would have been better with a different player but I'll fully enjoy the ride while he's here and we're playing well. But I do not want them to bring him back really. First, it'll likely cost too much. Second, some decline is inevitable even if seemingly delayed this season. Third, we still have bigger needs to fill. But damn it's a lot of fun right now!
 
Maybe if the Jazz win the title Smith will go wild with the tax. I'm sure he would want to bring back the championship team to sold out crowds in a post-covid world.
 
Unless Mike signs for a crazy cheap deal, the tax ramifications are going to be absolutely bonkers if the Jazz retain him.
 
Would you trade Conley for Beal right now?
 
Alright, so here’s how I’d put this:

After this season, Mike will have $210M in career basketball earnings alone. He once had the largest contract in NBA history. When you look at three common things players value, you probably see money, winning (title contention, specifically), and legacy topping the list. You can always argue that human nature always wants more money, don’t neglect the non-monetary value of the other, as one may see the financial cup overflowing while the others sit half-filled.

What does a two-year deal with the Jazz come out to? (I don’t know precisely and won’t speculate, but it’s likely not less than $5M per [being conservative]).

What does a two year deal with LA look like? Well, they’re over the cap, so it’s the MLE, so just shy of $10M/yr. So if you presume a two-year deal with us at half the cost, or anywhere else on MLE, you’re looking at total career basketball earnings difference of about 4% ($230M vs. $220M). That’s assuming he retires after those two years.

So then you have to look at title chances and legacy. The two obviously overlap in a lot of ways. Yes, you may get a title as a ride-along with the Lakers. He could even be a key veteran, but the team will be remembered as LeBron and AD.

So Mike will be 34 by next season, and his years of being a key contributor are more limited. He spent 12 years with another franchise and then made what’s he’s acknowledged as a tough transition last year and the narrative that anyone will remember is that he had a bad year. How much would that weigh on his mind of the potential to burn up another year before getting acclimated and comfortable somewhere? Mike has now adjusted and is playing incredible basketball for a team that a quarter of the way through the season has the best record in the league, with him being a large reason for that.

What I think it really boils down to is if we’re legit. If we fizzle out early in the second round or get bumped in the first round then yes, this is different calculus. But if we win it all, or we’re in the finals, or go to 7 games in a WCF series, then it totally changes the equation when you’re looking at leaving a team that you’re already settled in as a key contributor to jumping to another contender that, while perhaps increasing your odds, introduces a whole host of other variables. What does snagging a championship as a key player in Utah vs. as a clinger-on in LA do for legacy? Maybe Mike doesn’t see it that way. And I’m not saying he has a much larger shot at a title here than in LA, but this scenario is contingent on us proving that we’re right there at the gate. If we’re not at the gate come next summer, then obviously none of this applies.
 
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