SALT LAKE CITY — Among the most pressing questions facing the Utah Jazz is how its newly bolstered backcourt will function.
It’s often phrased less as a question than a point of enthusiasm for fans, who are understandably excited about pairing a proven veteran leader and scorer in Mike Conley with their budding superstar Donovan Mitchell. How quickly those two learn to play together, though, will impact the team’s start to the season — an area where the Jazz are hoping to improve after opening their last campaign 7-8 through one month.
At Jazz media day on Monday, this point came up over and over. Their pairing was one of the most contested points of discussion, with coach Quin Snyder noting Conley’s ability to make Mitchell better. But that’s contingent on learning how to play together — something they didn’t do much ahead of preseason camp.
They did train together this summer, as one reporter pointed out.
“They posted about it enough, didn’t they?” forward Joe Ingles observed.
Once he recovered from laughing, Conley said that yes, he and Mitchell did get in “a couple days of work,” and that it was cool to get to know Mitchell because they hadn’t really hung out before, but he mentioned little about whether they jived on the court.
After Thursday’s practice, Mitchell made a convincing case that he and Conley’s on-court chemistry is evolving nicely.
“I’m lovin’ it,” he said. “We’re gelling a lot faster than I think we anticipated.”
Mitchell added he’s grown to respect Conley’s knowledge of the game now that he’s seen it first-hand, and that Conley has offered plenty of feedback, particularly regarding slowing down to play more deliberately, and “even on the defensive end.”
Mitchell has tried to absorb every lesson, which would likely be potent given Conley’s history.
Last season with Memphis, the veteran point guard averaged 21.1 points and 6.4 assists per game as the Grizzlies’ main offensive threat. The man he’s replacing, Ricky Rubio, averaged 12.7 and 6.1, respectively. Conley’s numbers will probably fall since he’ll be playing for a team with more depth, but Rubio hasn’t sniffed scoring numbers like Conley’s in his career, so the optimism about Conley is warranted.
Especially when paired with Mitchell, who averaged 23.8 points a game in his second NBA season. Will his numbers go down with Conley around? That’s a question the season will have to determine. As for the question of how the backcourt will function, Snyder believes the answer is somewhere in the realm of quite well.
When asked about Mitchell’s comments saying he’s gelled with Conley quickly, Snyder credited both players’ willingness to enhance the other rather than playing their own style of basketball.
“That happens when you want to mesh,” he said. “It’s really two guys that want to help each other.”
Fans will get their first look at the duo on Saturday night at 7 when Utah hosts the Adelaide 36ers, a professional Australian team, for a preseason contest.