Utah Jazz big man Rudy Gobert says he texted Mike Conley welcoming him to Utah and believes the veteran point guard will help the Jazz “take the next step.”
Utah reportedly acquired Conley from the Memphis Grizzlies. Gobert has always respected Conley's game from afar and is excited to play with him next season.
“Now, we have another guy that comes in, I think a guy that can really help us take the next step, which is to me, play for a championship,” Gobert told Eric Woodyard of the Desert News. “I always loved his competitiveness. He’s a guy that plays to win. He’s a guy that’s selfless, but still very aggressive but he’s a winner to me. I’ve had a chance to talk with him a little bit and I think he really wants to win, to help us and we want to help him at the same time. It’s going to be a great partnership.
“I just texted him to welcome him. It’s still not official so that’s why I didn’t say much publicly but in case he comes to Utah, it’ll be good. Does that make sense?” (laughs)
Conley is a big upgrade over Ricky Rubio, who won't be coming back to the Jazz. Utah now has two dynamic scorers in Conley and Donovan Mitchell in the backcourt.
Gobert figures to get even more easy looks at the basket next season playing alongside Conley, who is elite at getting to the rim and collapsing defenses. The lefty averaged 21.1 points and 6.4 assists in 2018-19 with the Grizzlies while shooting 43.8 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from beyond the arc and 84.5 percent from the free-throw line.
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