Leaving the Memphis Grizzlies was a tough transition for Mike Conley, who landed with the Utah Jazz — a team that had lusted over his talents for the better part of a season since he was made available in trade talks. His former teammate Marc Gasol was traded prior to the trade deadline and was able to capture a title with the Toronto Raptors, something that has given the veteran point man some level of hope.
“Seeing Marc accomplish it, seeing a different team other than Golden State or a LeBron-led team win a championship, seeing it happen, I think a lot of teams feel that way,” Conley told ESPN's Tim MacMahon. “Like, ‘Hey, we can win this.'”
The Jazz have a strong starting five, putting Conley in the backcourt with rising star Donovan Mitchell and the newly-acquired Bojan Bogdanovic next to two-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
Utah didn't stop after landing two starter-quality players, also fortifying their depth with the signings of veterans Ed Davis and Jeff Green, whom Conley help convince.
The door of opportunity is wide-open in the West, with as many as six teams with realistic chances to steal the crown after the era of dynamic duos has been restored after a near-decade trend of building superteams.
The Jazz are already a strong defensive teams, and now they have the shooting and veteran experience necessary to make a deep postseason run, perhaps even moving past title favorites like the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers when it's all said and done.
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