Mike Conley Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Conley, Rockets, Pelicans, Gasol

January 12th, 2017 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

When Mike Conley signed a five-year mega-deal with the Grizzlies last summer, making him the NBA’s highest-paid player, the deal was met with some backlash. However, as Conley tells ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, it wasn’t the first time that NBA fans and observers had questioned whether he was worth the investment — his initial four-year extension with Memphis received the same kind of scrutiny.

“The first go-round prepared me for the same type of situation, where I knew that it would take a lot of backlash and there would be a lot of people who don’t know who I am,” said the Grizzlies point guard. “Never heard of me or whatever. Now all of a sudden this guy is paid more than everybody else. So I just prepared myself and took it as a challenge, just took it as an opportunity, to use it and be the best player I can be. … It does take a special mentality to be able to understand and handle the moment, handle the situation. It could eat a lot of people up. I try to stay in the positive. In the now. I think of all the work that all the sacrifice that took me to the position to [have] this opportunity. That validates my contract for me.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

The Rockets aren’t active in trade talks, and even though GM Daryl Morey never sits still, the team is more likely to do something minor than major, if it makes a move at all, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Kyler also weighed in on the Pelicans, tweeting that Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans, who are eligible for free agency this summer, are worth keeping an eye on as the trade deadline nears.
Pau Gasol has made six All-Star teams in his career, and has played in the NBA’s last two midseason exhibitions, but he knew when he signed with the Spurs that he’d likely be forgoing individual accolades in favor of team success, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. “I didn’t come here with that type of mindset,” Gasol said of his All-Star streak.
Rockets big man Clint Capela, sidelined with a fractured left fibula, has made significant progress and remains on track to return within a four-to-six week window, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Capela is scheduled to be examined again next week.
There are a couple of health-related notes out of Memphis as well, as Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports (via Twitter) that there’s still no timetable for Brandan Wright‘s return. Rookie big man Deyonta Davis, on the other hand, has made an early recovery from a foot injury that sidelined him in December — he was active on Wednesday night and available to play for the Grizzlies, though he didn’t see any action.

Mike Conley Expected To Play Tonight

December 16th, 2016 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley will be back in the lineup tonight, three weeks after fractures were found in his lower back, tweets Chris Vernon of Grizzlies.com. He participated in the team’s shootaround this morning before being cleared for game action (Twitter link).

Conley was expected to “minimally miss approximately six weeks” when doctors discovered the fractures on November 29th. The original plan called for him to be re-evaluated around the end of the year to see when a return might be possible. Conley was forced out of a game the night before with a lower back injury, which turned out to be a transverse process fracture in the vertebrae.

Conley’s return from injury will coincide with the return to Memphis by former Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger. He was hired by the Kings shortly after being fired by the Grizzlies in May.

“Both of us know so much about each other and the schemes we like to do and how we play,” Conley said of the chance to face Joerger. “It will be good to see him and good to compete against him.” (Twitter link).

Before the injury, Conley had been one of keys to Memphis’ early-season success, averaging 19.2 points and 5.7 assists per game. The 29-year-old is in the first-year of a record-setting five-year deal worth more than $150MM.

Grizzlies Waive Toney Douglas

December 15th, 2016 at 3:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies are waiving Toney Douglas, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that three of Memphis’ injured players are getting close to returning. Douglas was signed by the Grizzlies using a hardship exception, which allowed the team to add a 16th man to its roster since four players were sidelined for an extended period.

We had already heard that James Ennis, one of those four injured Grizzlies players, was nearing a return, but Wojnarowski says that two others – Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons – have also made significant progress (Twitter links). According to Wojnarowski, Conley could get back on the court as soon as this weekend, which would be a surprisingly fast turnaround. When the veteran point guard went down with a back injury, reports indicated he would be re-evaluated in a month and would likely miss at least six weeks — that was just over two weeks ago.

Up until his injury, Conley had been one of the NBA’s most valuable players, so there were some questions about how the Grizzlies would perform without him. Since he went down, however, Memphis has played some of its best ball of the season, putting up a 7-2 record, with wins against the Warriors and Cavaliers. The team’s only two losses in that stretch came against Cleveland and Toronto, the two top teams in the East.

While Douglas didn’t play a ton during his time with the Grizzlies, he saw 17.8 minutes per game in six contests, averaging 5.8 PPG, 2.7 APG, and 2.7 RPG. Assuming he’s officially waived today, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent this weekend, while Memphis will carry a cap hit of just over $100K for him, per Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter link).

Southwest Notes: Conley, Parsons, Evans, Motiejunas

December 2nd, 2016 at 1:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Grizzlies never gave any thought to tanking, even as Mike Conley was added to their long injury list, according to Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Conley will miss at least six weeks after fractures were discovered in his lower back. He joins injured teammates Vince Carter, Chandler Parsons, James Ennis and Brandan Wright, while Zach Randolph is on the bereavement list. “It’s obvious that we have done everything to stay competitive,” said GM Chris Wallace. “Ownership has given us the financial commitment for our intent to be competitive at a high level over the past several years. That just doesn’t stop with the injury to Mike Conley.”

There’s more news from the Southwest Division:

Parsons admits coming to Memphis was a “culture shock,” but he liked the talent the Grizzlies had in place and wanted to be part of the organization, relays Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Injuries have limited Parsons to six games so far after signing a four-year max contract over the summer. “The real reason why I went there was the current players that they have on their team,” Parsons said, “guys like Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, Z-Bo [Randolph], Tony Allen. See, they’re all guys that have had so much success, and I felt like plugging me into that lineup, being able to play with those guys as kind of the piece they’ve been missing [would be great]. And with the new coaching staff with [David] Fizdale and J.B. Bickerstaff, those are two guys I’ve had previous relationships with and I just hit it off with them. Those are guys that I’ve trusted, and I think we’re going to have special seasons as soon as we get fully healthy. We’ve got a lot of guys banged up right now, but I think we’re going to be a tough team to beat come playoff time.”
The Pelicans will have to wait longer for Tyreke Evans‘ season debut, tweets Justin Verrier of ESPN.com. Evans, who is recovering from two surgeries on his right knee last season, reported tightness in his calf. New Orleans was hoping to have him back by Thanksgiving, but GM Dell Demps said Evans will not take the court until he is fully healthy. Once he returns, coach Alvin Gentry envisions Evans taking on a role similar to what Lance Stephenson did before he was injured and waived (Twitter link).
The Rockets are very interested in keeping Donatas Motiejunas, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The Lithuanian power forward has been meeting with the Nets and is expected to receive an offer sheet, possibly by today. Even though Houston pulled its latest offer to Motiejunas last month, the organization will strongly consider matching whatever offer Brooklyn presents. “We’re big fans of Donatas,” said GM Daryl Morey. “We hope to have him at some point this year.”

Mike Conley Expected To Miss At Least Six Weeks

November 29th, 2016 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

1:15pm: Conley could “minimally miss approximately six weeks,” but the timeline for his recovery isn’t entirely clear, per Wojnarowski. Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link) hears that the point guard will likely miss six to eight weeks, which is similar to the timetable reported by Wallace (noted below).

12:52pm: The NBA’s highest-paid player has played his last game of 2016, according to Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com, who tweets that Mike Conley is expected to be sidelined for six weeks with fractures in his lower back. Wallace adds that Conley, who suffered the injury on Monday, will be re-evaluated a month from now.

Conley left Monday night’s game against the Hornets with what the team called a lower back injury. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter), the specific ailment is a transverse process fracture in the vertebrae. Wallace compared the injury to one suffered by Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, tweeting that Conley likely won’t require surgery, but will need rest and recovery to heal the fractures.

Conley, 29, signed a five-year deal worth in excess of $150MM this summer, the largest contract in NBA history. He has responded by producing a career-high 19.2 PPG to go along with 5.7 APG in the early going this season. That scoring average is buoyed by outstanding three-point shooting — he has made 2.5 threes per game so far, at a 46.7% clip.

With Conley sidelined, backup point guard Andrew Harrison appears poised to assume a larger role in the Grizzlies’ rotation for the next several weeks. First-round rookie Wade Baldwin, who has averaged 15.6 MPG in 11 contests so far, may also be relied on for more minutes. The team could make a roster move to add more depth at the position, but currently its 15-man roster is full.

While the Grizzlies expect Conley to make a full recovery, the injury is the latest setback for the 2016 Grizzlies, who have been plagued by health problems during the last calendar year — the team finished the 2015/16 season extremely shorthanded, and has seen Chandler Parsons, James Ennis, and a handful of other players battle injuries already this season.

Southwest Notes: Gasol, D-League, Fizdale, Harrell

November 27th, 2016 at 11:44am CST by Arthur Hill

A consistent scorer since entering the NBA, Pau Gasol has faced a huge adjustment since signing with the Spurs this summer, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. Gasol went scoreless Friday in Boston and he has put up a pair of two-point games during the early season. It’s a change for Gasol, who has averaged 18.1 points per game through his career, but apparently not an issue for coach Gregg Popovich. “I’m not really too concerned with who scores and who doesn’t,” Popovich said. “We just try to have more than the other guys.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The largest rookie class in Spurs history has gotten a lot of D-League training, McDonald notes in a separate piece. Bryn Forbes, Davis Bertans, Dejounte Murray and Nicolas Laprovittola all earned spots on San Antonio’s roster, but they have spent much of their first month in Austin. “It’s been real important to us, keeping guys in shape and getting guys minutes, learning the game, learning the NBA,” Popovich said. “We’ve been fortunate we have had guys who have had the character and humility to do that and not think it’s below them.”
Grizzlies coach David Fizdale defended his maintenance program after point guard Mike Conley was used as a reserve and played just 23 minutes in Friday’s loss, relays Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. Conley, who re-signed during the summer for $153MM over five years, said he is willing to trust Fizdale’s strategy, while the coach admitted it’s a work in progress. “Obviously you can tell the number of minutes that [Conley] played, what was happening,” Fizdale said. “I just tried to find a balance somewhere and just try to patch it up where we can, going after the win.”
Second-year Rockets big man Montrezl Harrell is finding his opportunities limited behind Clint Capela and Nene, notes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Circumstances have given Harrell more playing time than usual the past two games, but coach Mike D’Antoni doesn’t expect him to become part of the rotation. “Not that I don’t have confidence in him,” D’Antoni said. “I have a lot of confidence in him. It’s just hard. I want to get Clint up to 30 minutes. Clint is playing as well as anybody on our team. If I get him up to 30, that leaves only 18. Now, you’re trying to split time. Is that nine minutes each, 12 minutes for one guy and six [for the other]? In special circumstances, I wouldn’t hesitate. If we’re a little sluggish, I wouldn’t hesitate … because I think he brings energy and something different. But it’s hard to play three guys in that role if one guy is taking up 30 minutes. It’s almost impossible. It’s not fair to the other two guys, actually.”

Southwest Notes: Gasol, Holiday, Conley

November 19th, 2016 at 7:47pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Pau Gasol knows that trying to replace Tim Duncan is a quixotic task, as Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post relays. “I didn’t come here to replace Tim,” Gasol said. “Tim is an incredible player, a player that I looked up to, an icon in San Antonio, and anywhere else, for that matter. But I just came to bring my talent, my abilities and help this team be the best it can be. That’s what I’m focused on. I’m not going to try to be someone that’s played here 19 years, got five championships with this team. I’m trying to help this team get one, and that’s where I’m at.” The Spurs signed Gasol to a two-year, $30MM deal over the summer and the big man has helped the team earn a 10-3 record this season.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Jrue Holiday is thrilled with how the Pelicans handled his absence and he’s happy to be back on the court, James Varney of USA Today writes. “I’m blessed, man,” Holiday said earlier this week. “Blessed to have my family back, blessed that we’re OK. So blessed for the support, especially from the team. This team was there for me and my family. A lot of people were. I just can’t put it on one group of people. So many showed faith and support.” Holiday helped the team get its third win of the season on Friday night, scoring 21 points in 23 minutes off the bench.
Mike Conley is still underrated despite re-signing with the Grizzlies on the largest contract in league history over the summer, Jerry Zgoda of the StarTribune argues. Conley has always been a team-first guy, but he admits that his lack of All-Star appearances weighs on him. “It’s very frustrating, but I know my team feels like I am, I feel like I am that All-Star-caliber guy,” Conley said. “I just have to keep playing like that and get better as each year goes by.”

Southwest Rumors: Conley, Randolph, Spurs

November 3rd, 2016 at 5:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mike Conley is already getting targeted by opposing fans over the five-year, $152.6MM contract he signed with the Grizzlies this offseason, Mitch Lawrence of the Sporting News reports. The Grizzlies point guard knows the unwanted attention comes with signing such a big contract but he’s taking it in stride, Lawrence continues. “It doesn’t bother me at all,” Conley told Lawrence. “When I hear the talk, when I look on my phone and see messages on Twitter about it, it really pushes me, to be honest. … I almost look forward to playing on the road, for that very reason.” Conley used an offer by the Mavericks as leverage and ended up with an extra $40MM, Lawrence adds.

In other news around the Southwest Division:

New Grizzlies coach David Fizdale gave Zach Randolph a detailed explanation of why he wanted the veteran power forward to come off the bench this season, according to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders. Fizdale was looking for another scorer on the second unit, Scotto continues. “He explained to me what he wanted to do and have more firepower coming off the bench,” Randolph told Scotto. “He needed me to play that role so I said, ‘Okay.’ I took it with a grain of salt, kept it moving, whatever you want me to do.” Randolph is making $10.36MM in the final year of his contract and Scotto anticipates Randolph will land another eight-figure salary when he enters unrestricted free agency.
The Spurs found themselves a bargain in free agency with the addition of center Dewayne Dedmon, Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer opines. Dedmon was signed to a two-year, $6MM to help replace Tim Duncan and he has delivered, averaging 5.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 17.1 minutes during the first five games. Dedmon’s skills as a rim runner, rebounder and shotblocker will prove useful when San Antonio reaches the postseason, Tjarks adds.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich doesn’t feel like his organization fleeced the Pacers with their 2011 draft night trade in which they landed Kawhi Leonard while shipping out point guard George Hill, Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com relays. San Antonio wound up with a franchise player but Hill had productive years with Indiana before he was traded to the Jazz this offseason. “It was what Indiana needed, and it was what we needed, and it worked out,” Popovich told Wright. “A lot of trades, one team will say, ‘Oh, we killed them on that trade. We got the better end of that.’ That’s just childish. It was a good trade for both teams.”

Pacific Notes: Price, Warren, Speights, Lakers

October 29th, 2016 at 9:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Suns have offered veteran guard Ronnie Price an assistant coaching position, tweets Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman. Price was waived Monday by the Thunder even though he had a fully guaranteed two-year, $5MM contract. The 33-year-old played 62 games for Phoenix last season, starting 18 times. Suns coach Earl Watson confirmed the offer, but said Price isn’t ready to end his playing career.

There’s more news from the Pacific Division:

After two injury-filled half seasons, Suns small forward T.J. Warren is off to a strong start to 2016/17, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Warren scored 30 points Friday night in an overtime loss to the Thunder, going 8 for 8 on a variety of mid-range shots. “He gets buckets; ‘Tony Buckets’ is his name,” said teammate Eric Bledsoe. “He played not only great offense, but great defense too. He carried us.” The Suns exercised their 2017/18 option on Warren on Monday.
The Clippers are counting on big man Marreese Speights to boost their bench scoring and maybe even change the balance of power in the West, relays Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. The former Warrior signed a two-year, minimum-salary deal with L.A. over the summer. “(He’s) just another scorer,” said coach/executive Doc Rivers. “I don’t think anyone has a guy like that on their bench, for that matter. Golden State had one last year, and now he’s on our team. But there’s not a lot of fives that can do what Mo does as far as offensively shoot the three. There are some, but Mo also has a post game as well.” Speights has a player option on the second year of his new deal, so he could be in line for a raise if he has a productive season.
The Lakers hope to be more appealing to free agents by the time California natives Russell Westbrook and Paul George become available in two years, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Over the summer, L.A. was turned down for meetings by Kevin Durant, Mike Conley and Hassan Whiteside.

Contract Details: Conley, Jefferson, Speights

July 18th, 2016 at 8:47am CST by Luke Adams

Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has updated many of the team-by-team salary pages at Basketball Insiders with new information, and while it’s worth checking out the full breakdown for your favorite team, we have a few noteworthy items from the latest series of updates to pass along. Let’s dive in…

Mike Conley‘s five-year max deal with the Grizzlies includes an early termination option for the fifth year, which essentially functions like a player option. If Conley choose to waive that ETO and opts into the final year of his contract, his $34.5MM salary would be guaranteed for $22.427MM. However, if Conley plays in at least 55 games in either 2018/19 or 2019/20, that salary becomes fully guaranteed.
The third year of Al Jefferson‘s three-year contract with the Pacers is only partially guaranteed. The team currently owes him $4MM for the 2018/19 season, but if he stays on the roster, he’d earn his full $10MM salary.
Marreese Speights‘ minimum-salary deal with the Clippers is for two years, not just one. However, Speights has a player option on that second year, so he’ll likely opt out if he has a good year in Los Angeles.
Deron Williams‘ one-year contract with the Mavericks is actually worth $9MM rather than $10MM on the cap, though he has $1MM in unlikely incentives.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Jonathan Gibson, and Nicolas Brussino all got nearly-identical three-year, minimum-salary deals from the Mavericks. Gibson is the only one whose first year is fully guaranteed though — Finney-Smith and Brussino will start with just $100K guaranteed apiece.
When Paul Zipser‘s agent announced his rookie contract with the Bulls, he said it featured two guaranteed years. There’s also a third year on that pact worth the minimum salary that’s not fully guaranteed.