We now have a contender for the worst contract handed out this offseason. According to ESPN's Chris Broussard,the Memphis Grizzlies have signed Mike Conley to a five-year, $45 million contract extension.
Mike Conley Signs Five-Year $45 Million Contract Extension With Memphis Grizzlies
Yup, Mike Conley. Conley is off to an excellent start this season in Memphis’ first three games, and the Grizzlies have committed to him at point guard throughout his short NBA career. But he has also displayed little growth, and has yet to prove he’s even an average point guard. His traditional statistics don’t look that bad, but he struggles running pick and roll on both ends of the floor, which is kind of problematic for a point guard.
Every point guard in the National Basketball Association is able to probe the defense. It involves stepping inside the arc, towards defenders, and maintaining your dribble to see how the defense reacts to penetration. It allows the point guard to evaluate spacing and set up the correct set of decisions. Mike Conley cannot. He will routinely turn his back to a post maneuver, just to avoid losing the ball. This is because he has tremendous difficulty in splitting defenders. This is just one example. He struggles in the pick and roll according to Synergy Sports, averaging just a .79 PPP in the pick and roll and shooting 44% which is a great Field Goal %, but not in pick and roll. Defensively? It’s even worse.
Conley surrenders a .96 PPP in Isolation, giving up free throws over 16% of the time. In pick and roll, a .82. It’s not horrific. It’s just miserably average-to-subpar.
For all that, the Grizzlies will pay Conley more annually than Jason Kidd, Devin Harris, Jameer Nelson, Mo Williams and Andre Miller. Making matters worse, the Grizzlies are a small-market team that has just tied up over $130 million for the next five years for Conley and Rudy Gay. Marc Gasol, O.J. Mayo and Zach Randolph, the team's other three starters, are up for contract extensions within the next two years. Therefore, keeping Conley could easily prevent the Grizzlies from keeping one or more of those players.
For more, check out SB Nation’s Grizzlies blog Straight Outta Vancouver.
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