On the morning of June 20th, Beijing time, another big event happened in the NBA. The Jazz traded Claude, Koval, Grayson Allen and two first-round draft picks for Grizzlies defender Michael Conley. After the completion of this transaction, the Jazz reinforced the biggest shortcoming of the team lineup with the least cost, and they are expected to become one of the strongest forces in the West next season and go further.

Jazz has done well in the past two seasons. After Mitchell arrived, precocious teenagers quickly brought the Jazz into the playoffs, but they fell at the feet of the Rockets for two years in a row. Just as the Rockets worry about how to beat the Warriors every season, they hope to achieve a qualitative leap by strengthening the lineup after falling at the feet of the Rockets again this season, and the shortcoming that needs to be strengthened most is undoubtedly the position of the point guard.

In the past few seasons, Jazz's main point guard position was Lu Biao. Lu Biao entered the league as a golden boy, but its development in recent years is not satisfactory. On the offensive end, his passing and overall sense are good, but the poor outside projection has been bothering him. Coupled with the gap in physical fitness, he has always lacked explosive power on the offensive end. On the defensive end, although he can use his own experience and skills to complete the defense, the gap in physical strength makes him often fall behind when facing stronger opponents. In this year's playoffs, whether against Paul or Harden, he is a loophole in the team's defensive end. After the end of this season, his contract expired, and the Jazz naturally began its own reinforcement plan.

Next, I want to talk about the jazz's new aid Conley. In the past few years, Conley has become the best point guard in the history of Grizzlies. Although he has never been selected as an All-Star in his career, he has never been considered as one of the most underrated players in the league. Last season, he averaged 2 1. 1 point and sent more than 6 assists. Compared with Lu Biao on the offensive end, although he doesn't pass the ball very well, he is an above-average passer in his career. More importantly, his outside ability is trustworthy. His career three-point shooting percentage reached 37.5%, which is based on his career average of 3.7 three-point shots. On the defensive end, Conley has always been one of the elite guards in the point guard position. In Grizzlies, who are good at defense, he can be the forward of the team's perimeter defense. I believe he can still make great contributions on the defensive end of Jazz.

Let's take a look at the price the jazz paid in this transaction. In this transaction, the Jazz paid the price of three players and two first-round draft picks. Among them, the three players they sent were all substitutes for the team. Of the three players, only Claude is the regular main rotation of the team. Koval is old and his playing time is gradually decreasing in the second half of the season. As a rookie last year, Grayson Allen scored 40 points in a single game at the end of the season, but it is difficult for him to get too many opportunities with Mitchell in Jazz. As for the first-round draft pick, if the Jazz maintain such a record, the draft pick in the middle and late first round will be of little value to them. It can be said that Jazz only paid a small price for Conley this time.

Of course, this deal is also risky for jazz. First of all, Conley is 365,438+0 years old. For a short point guard, the next few years will be the fastest time for his state to decline. Secondly, his injuries are quite serious. His career was only full-time, which dates back to 2008-09. In the past five seasons, he has played 70 times in a single season at most, 65438+. Finally, there is the question of contract. Conley renewed a generous contract with Grizzlies on 20 16, which expires in five years1530,000. This contract is also considered by the industry to be one of the most premium contracts in the alliance. More importantly, there are no options in this contract, which means that Jazz's salary flexibility will be greatly affected in the next two years.

In theory, Conley's arrival greatly strengthened the shortcomings of the jazz lineup. As far as the Jazz's paper strength is concerned, they have every chance to go further in the playoffs. Of course, the specific effect needs to be tested in next season's competition.