Mike Conley Explains Being Hurt by Trade to Timberwolves from Jazz

Mike Conley Jr. has settled in nicely with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the former All-Star admitted he was initially taken aback when the Utah Jazz traded him.

Speaking to The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski, Conley opened up about the February trade that sent him from Utah to Minnesota.

"You can make a lot of money, but if you get punched in the face, you're still like, 'Oh my God, that hurt,'" he said. "Yeah, I'll be fine. But at this moment, it's hurting me. So let me feel this for a second here and then move on."

Conley was traded to the Jazz in July 2019 after spending the first 12 years of his career with the Memphis Grizzlies. His addition was supposed to fill in the missing piece for a Utah team that had been on the rise with Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.

Injuries and struggles adjusting to a new team led Conley to have a down year in 2019-20, but he rebounded the following season to help the Jazz finish first in the Western Conference with a 52-20 record before losing in the second round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Clippers.

After another first-round playoff exit in 2021-22, the Jazz went in a different direction by trading Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the summer of 2022.

Conley wound up staying with Utah to start last season before being traded to the Timberwolves in a three-team deal that also involved the Los Angeles Lakers.

Jazz head coach Will Hardy told Krawczynski there were conflicted feelings within the organization about trading Conley because he was a "massive safety blanket" for the team as a veteran leader.

The deal has paid off well for the Timberwolves. He finished last season averaging 14.0 points on 46.0 percent shooting (42.0 percent from three) and 5.0 assists per game in 24 starts to help Minnesota make the playoffs.

Things have been going well for Conley so far in the 2023-24 campaign. He's shooting a career-high 48.1 percent from the field, leads the team with 5.3 assists per game and has an almost seven-to-one assist-to-turnover mark (74-11).

The Timberwolves currently own an 11-3 record, best in the Western Conference. They have won three consecutive games and can clinch the top spot in Western Conference Group C of the in-season tournament with a win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.