Given his contract and age, Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley entered the 2022–2023 season with an all-time low trade value. But the 35-year-old left-handed veteran with a 15-year career has been one of the most significant players on the team to begin the year.
Even though the season has just played 11 games, it already seems as though Conley has reverted to his previous state. His averages for assists (7.5), effective field goal percentage (.561), and turnover rate (1.5 per game) are all career highs.
Conley recently expressed his enjoyment in a comment to Tony Jones of The Athletic.
Conley remarked to Jones, “I’ve loved every minute of being on this team and playing a type of basketball we haven’t played before in a long.
It’s clear that the Jazz is having a good time together, and it appears that the club has the right leader going into such a tumultuous situation.
Conley has been the core for these players, coming in Utah, and the mentor they need, especially Collin Sexton, who continues to laud Conley whenever he can participate in interviews. Many youngsters on this roster have moved around the league without a controlled environment to grow and progress.
After repairing his torn MCL, Sexton is shooting a career-high effective field goal percentage (.542) and committing a career-low number of turnovers. He still has a few steps before becoming a valuable starting point guard. Still, if Conley is to blame for his improvements in the first 11 games, then his contribution is even more significant than previously thought.
Conley has always had a powerful and vital voice in the locker rooms he shares, but during the past few years, the drama that came with sharing a locker with Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert has drowned out his voice.
Conley may have improved his reputation as a player in just 11 games, but the Jazz may value him more for his contributions in the locker room and on the court than for his trade worth. Conley is undoubtedly the most influential player on the roster, despite not necessarily being the greatest.