Mike Conley will have no shortage of suitors when he hits the free agency market in July.
And I’m only talking about NBA teams located in New York, not even the Memphis Grizzlies or the rest of the league.
Sources told the New York Post‘s Marc Berman and Fred Kerber that both the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks plan to make a run at Conley when he comes available:
Conley, who never has made an All-Star team and is not in the top 10 in voting among Western Conference guards, still remains the top point guard on the free-agent market this summer. Sources have indicated the Knicks and Nets will be all over Conley, as the New York squads are two of the few NBA teams in the market for a top-notch starting point guard.
Both the Knicks and Nets need a starting point guard, so there’s nothing too crazy here.
The Knicks have Jose Calderon, Jerian Grant and Langston Galloway, but that three-headed monster isn’t a long-term solution. The Nets, meanwhile, have needed a floor general since before Deron Williams left.
But Mike Conley will command near max money. He’ll also be 29 by the time next season tips off. Shelling out $20-plus million annually to an aging point guard is still a risk—one the Nets can afford to take more than the Knicks.
It’s Brooklyn that doesn’t have the rights to its own first-rounder until 2019. If owner Mikhail Prokhorov is indeed chasing another quick turnaround, the Nets will have to throw money at every good player they can and hope some of their pitches stick, even if they’re overpays.
Having Kristaps Porzingis, all of 20 years old, affords the Knicks some patience. Carmelo Anthony will be pining for them to be aggressive, but they have to pick and choose the right players. They have the means to create max-contract space, which is best used on a Kevin Durant run or when divvied up among multiple impact players. In the meantime, as Anthony waits, the Knicks can sell him on pursuits of Stephen Curry, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook, each of whom will be a free agent in 2017.
