Between the Mitchell Robinson signing and the Jaylen Brown trade, Mike Conley’s arrival in Boston was very quickly overshadowed. And while it’s great to get a guy like Mike into the locker room, I’m not sure he can be relied upon as anything more than a strong veteran presence at this point in his career.
This will be Conley’s 20th season in the NBA after being drafted fourth overall in 2007, one pick after Al Horford and one pick ahead of Jeff Green, two other former Celtics who are still in the league as well.
And much like those players, Conley’s best years are long behind him. Conley had some great years early on with Memphis, made his only All-Star appearance in Utah, and became a great, steady hand and leader for Minnesota in recent years, and that’s about what I’d expect from him in Boston.
Conley can still offer some backup point guard minutes
The soon-to-be 39-year-old has seen his minutes decline year after year, playing just over 18 a game last season in his 54 appearances for the Timberwolves. He scored 4.5 points and added 2.9 assists per game, as he was on the fringe of the rotation, only being thrust into action in the playoffs after multiple injuries.
The Celtics are hurting at the point guard position, currently only rostering Payton Pritchard and Derrick White to really man that spot. So, Conley should get reps, and he should do a fine job of bringing the ball up, getting Boston into their sets, and then mostly camping out in the corner, where he can still hit a catch-and-shoot three from time to time.
Expecting anything more than that from Conley is a fool’s errand. He can give you 15 minutes here and there, doing a viable job as a generic point guard and battling to hold his own on defense.
His biggest impact will likely be what he brings to the bench and locker room. He’s a veteran who has seen it all but still has the hunger of a player who has never won a title. He has won the Twyman Stokes Teammate of the Year Award a record four times and has amazingly never received a technical foul in his career.
Conley will be a great veteran presence for Celtics
With some big veteran voices leaving the team in recent years, from Brown to Horford to Jrue Holiday and others, there may be a bit of a void, and that’s where Conley can provide value. He’s been a consummate professional for a long time, and he’s a perfect guy to come in and show some of these youngsters the ropes.
The fact that he plays a position of need is really just an added bonus at this point, and I tend to almost think of him as more of an assistant coach than a player. I think a good benchmark for Conley’s Boston tenure should be what Blake Griffin did a few years ago, finishing his career as a Celtic for the 2022-23 season.Â
He played in just 41 games and fewer than 14 minutes a night, but did his job well and quickly became a huge part of the camaraderie, chemistry, and makeup of that team. It was just one season, but he left his mark on the city and the franchise. Hopefully, we can soon say the same about Mike Conley.
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