Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley confirmed that the likes of Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls showed interest in him in free agency. However, as everyone knows, he snubbed them all and decided to stay in Salt Lake City.
Conley signed a lucrative three-year deal worth $68 million with the Jazz in the offseason, which he called the “easiest decision” he made. While there were plenty of interests for his services, staying with Utah and playing alongside Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert made a lot of sense to him.
“There were a couple of teams that were involved. It was Chicago, Dallas. … New York was early, and then they kind of were off and on. For me, it was simple. It was the easiest decision…,” Conley told Sam Amick of The Athletic.
“Yeah, New Orleans [was involved]. So for me, it was an easy decision (based) on what we had built here and what I was able to be a part of last year and in the last few seasons. Just wanted to be a part of that journey with these guys. Trying to bring a championship to a place that, you know, it’s not easy to do. I think that seeing Milwaukee win was awesome. You know, just like from my standpoint of what I believe in, and what and what I’ve seen over my years, the vision that we had in Memphis, you know? To see the reaction of the fans and stuff. That’s what we want to bring to Utah, and give ourselves a chance to do.”
While it would have been interesting had Mike Conley joined the Mavs, Bulls or Knicks–given the talent all those teams have–it's not really surprising he stayed with the Jazz. After all, they were the best team in the regular season after recording a league-topping 52-20 record.
Simply put, they were really close to contending for the title. If not for a hamstring injury to Conley during the first round of the 2021 playoffs, there's a good chance the team would've went all the way to the West Finals or even the NBA Finals.
It doesn't look like Conley made the wrong decision as well. The Jazz are back to their dominant ways, starting the 2021-22 season at 4-0 with wins against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets.
While Conley's numbers don't pop out this time around, the Jazz have really been effective and have seemingly found the right formula with the talent they have.
The Mavs, Bulls, Knicks and even the Pelicans would have certainly benefited in having Conley in their rosters, but as the veteran guard himself hinted, he knows he is in the right place and situation for his career goals.
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