Mike Conley
Minnesota Timberwolves

Player Facts

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 175lbs.

Wingspan: 6'5.75"

Date of Birth: Oct. 11, 1987
College Experience: Ohio State (1 year)

Selections

All Star: 1
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 1

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 8
Physical Strength: 6
Positional Size: 5
Positional Wingspan: 5
Paint Scoring: 5
Midrange Scoring: 7
Three-Point Scoring: 7
Dribbling: 8
Passing: 8
Perimeter Defense: 7
Interior Defense: 4
Rebounding: 3

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Perimeter Shooting

> Scoring Off Screens

> Consistent Playmaking + Crafty Attacks

> Quick Hands on Defense

> Point of Attack Navigation

> Scoring Inefficiencies

> Diminutive Frame

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

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*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

Mike Conley is a gritty and intelligent two-way guard. As the son of an Olympic gold medalist, Mike has the genes of a great athlete. He has been a steadying presence for his squads, applying leadership qualities on the court and in the locker room. Mike Conley stands at 6-foot-1 with a 6'5.75" wingspan.

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Perimeter Shooting

Mike's shooting stroke is slightly unorthodox for a guard. He barely leaves the ground on his triples despite being a 6'1" player. Conley is afforded the luxury of still getting his jumper off cleanly thanks to a fluid energy transfer and a quick shot motion.

Like most shooters, Mike is most accurate as a catch-and-shoot guy. The lefty guard hit on even 41.4% of his catch-and-shoot threes in 2021-2022. 40.6% was his mark on these across his All-Star 2020-2021 season.

This competency is what allows Conley to remain impactful when playing off-the-ball. He was in the 80th percentile for spot-up scoring in 2019-2020 as he spaced the floor for Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Ingles, and others.

Scoring Off Screens

The former Ohio State Buckeye has always been a productive point producer as the pick-and-roll initiator in the NBA. He smartly plays off his pristine interior passing ability for his famous floater in the lane.

Mike is known for his right-handed runner in the paint despite shooting jumpers with his left. Conley is at his best when he snakes into a stable righty floater from about 10 feet.

Mike provided 5.9 points per game as the screen-and-roll ball-handler in 2019-2020. With some threes, midrangers, and leaners, Conley secured a meaningful portion of his scoring output via this common action. That mark of 5.9 outpaced Jamal Murray, Fred VanVleet, and Evan Fournier that year.

Consistent Playmaking + Crafty Attacks

He's a calculated decision-maker with the ball in his hands. A low-turnover guard, Conley particularly thrives in two-on-one situations where he can read the dropped big man.

A statistical testament to his well-paced, intelligent orchestration is his 3.45 2018-2019 assist-to-turnover ratio. This bested floor generals like Chris Paul and Kyle Lowry. It was once again up over 3 in 2020-2021.

As a below-the-rim player, Conley leans on his guile and varied speed changes. He's unpredictable on his dribble drives due to a high comfort level as all of a passer, midrange shooter, and floater artist. His ambidexterity around the key adds yet another layer to his versatility as a slasher.

Mike averaged 16.2 assist points created per game in 2020-2021 as an astute drive-and-dish guard. He handles his chances to get downhill with an open mind and an unselfish outlook.

2019-2020 saw him stay aggressive to the tune of 12.7 drives per game. That bested penetrators Zach LaVine, Ben Simmons, Eric Bledsoe, and Dennis Schröder.

Right at the rim, Conley exhibits his cleverness. After using his quickness in concert with shifty stop-and-go's to get there, Mike is very good at initiating body contact. This is key for a small guard to even get their shot off inside.

Quick Hands on Defense

Mike Conley's primary defensive asset is his hand-eye coordination. The constantly engaged Conley uses both his quick feet and quick hands to pester opposing attackers. He stockpiles steals and deflections each and every year, with at least 1 steal per 36 minutes averaged in all of his NBA seasons.

One telling measure of Conley's defense is how many loose balls he recovers. With a knack for the basketball and those active hands, Mike was eighth in the league during 2018-2019 with 119 loose balls recovered. He ended up with more of these than defensive studs like Pascal Siakam, Jrue Holiday, and P.J. Tucker.

Also, he's an alert help defender who digs in with superb timing. The cerebral Conley is a clever defensive player on the whole but this shines brightest as a team defender. He rarely falls asleep when defending off-ball nor does he find himself ball-watching as his man sneaks behind him.

Point of Attack Navigation

The 6'1" guard rarely dies on ball screens. He darts right back into the play with the goal of challenging his man's shot. If he's too far behind his defensive assignment, he wisely peels onto the roll man to switch. Additionally, Conley slaps down onto the ball to frequently get clean plucks against drivers.

WEAKNESSES

Scoring Inefficiencies

Mike is just okay as a pull-up three-point shooter. He has never been nearly as deadly a threat as the game's best shooters right off the ball screen (i.e., Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard). Mike was below 34% on his pull-up triples in 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020.

When examining Mike's seasons in their entirety, his overall field goal percentages have never been great. He shot only 40.9% from the field in 2019-2020.

His numbers are bogged down by being more of a perimeter scorer than an interior one. When he does take shots at the iron, his percentages are typically lackluster.

The 6'1" Conley is not the blazing transition lightning-bolt that many starting guards can be. Despite all of his pickpocketing on defense, he has never racked up points in the open court like even a Goran Dragić or Eric Gordon. He remains a strong facilitator in these spots though.

Diminutive Frame

His lack of size proves to be problematic on both ends and on the glass. It hinders his ability to effectively switch on defense, virtually locked into guarding one's. Save for stepping in to take some charges, Mike is expectedly not a difference-maker on the defensive backline.

As a scorer, his undersized frame and unspectacular bounce make him a poor finisher right at the rim. Conley has been sub-58% in each season between 2017-2018 and 2020-2021 from inside the charge circle. Surprisingly, he has always been able to earn some free throws through his craftiness.

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bacon
Beacon Bacon

After competing against Kyle Lowry for the starting nod as the Grizzlies' point guard, a young Mike Conley beat out Kyle, and Lowry was shipped off to Houston