When NBA free agency starts next week, Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley is primed to be one of the more sought-after players on the market, with a bunch of good teams in need of a good veteran floor leader.
On Tuesday, Conley’s Jazz backcourt mate and fellow All-Star Donovan Mitchell predicted — in rather humorous fashion — that Conley will return to the Beehive State.
Conley posted a video ad on Instagram for doTerra, a Utah-based essential oils company (Mitchell signed an endorsement deal with the company in 2019), and Mitchell used a comment as an opportunity to guess that Conley will go back to the Jazz.
“Doterra headquarters in Utah…. Mike played for Utah….. according to the calculations MIKE TO THE JAZZ CONFIRMED,” Mitchell wrote, adding a laughing emoji.
Can the Jazz re-sign Mike Conley?
Since Conley has most recently played for the Jazz, they would be allowed to go over the NBA’s salary cap and luxury tax threshold to re-sign him (known as “Bird rights”), but it would come at a heavy cost, as Utah is about at the tax line for next season in player salary (about $136 million) before he is factored in at all.
That said, the Jazz would not be able to sign a player who last played for another team at his same expected monetary value if he decides to go elsewhere.
What teams are interested in Mike Conley?
The Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks, among others, are teams that have been reported by various outlets to potentially have interest in signing Conley.