3 reasons why the Utah Jazz must re-sign Mike Conley in NBA free agency

#2 Keeping their core roster together should be paramount

The Utah Jazz led the NBA for wins this season

Mike Conley fitted seamlessly into the Utah Jazz setup after arriving in 2019 and has built a formidable partnership alongside Donovan Mitchell. Injuries were the Achilles heel of the Jazz in the end, with both Mitchell and Conley missing significant time at the end of the season. Conley was also unable to make a real impact in the playoffs.

Donovan Mitchell (29 PTS) and Mike Conley (27 PTS, 7 3PM) help the @utahjazz go up 2-1! #NBAPlayoffs #TakeNoteGame 4: Monday 9:30pm/et on TNT pic.twitter.com/684eWPxcTW

— NBA (@NBA) May 30, 2021

But what helped the Utah Jazz register the best record in the NBA during the regular season was the fact they held a consistent starting unit. Conley, along with Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Bojan Bogdanovic and Royce O'Neale, played 41 games together and had a +/- of 4.1. They were solid on both offense and defense and helped the Jazz finish as the only team among the top-five sides in the league for offensive and defensive ratings.

Keeping Mike Conley embedded in their starting five should be of key importance to the Utah Jazz this offseason. They want to continue building on this year's success and they cannot replace him with any player near the All-Star caliber of performance he displayed.

#1 Leadership on both ends of the court

Mike Conley helps up Royce O'Neale

Despite his injuries hampering some campaigns, Mike Conley has played for 14 straight seasons in the NBA and has a wealth of experience both in the regular season and in the playoffs. He is a consistent scorer averaging 14.9 points throughout his career, has maintained an effective field-goal percentage of 50.1% and shot at over 82% from the free-throw line.

As well as his reliability on offense, what is often not attributed straight away to Conley's game is his defensive responsibility. As previously mentioned, the Jazz posed with one of the stiffest defensive units in the NBA, with Mike Conley the vocal leader on that side of the ball. He finished the campaign with a rating of 99.5 and grabbed 1.4 steals per matchup - his most since 2014.

Conley ended the season with a winning share of 6.1. There are few veteran guards in the league who can provide his leadership, shot-making and defensive astuteness, and the Utah Jazz must make every effort to keep him at the franchise.