The Utah Jazz made arguably their biggest move of the offseason well before other teams had done more than setup plans for how they were going to fill their needs. On July 19th the team agreed to terms with Memphis to acquire their long-time starting point guard. That isn’t where the story of Conley’s journey to Utah begins though. This was a deal that was in the making for months.

Conley recently joined Adrian “Woj” Wojnarowski on The Woj Pod and shared more details of how he wound up on the Wasatch Front.

There were rumors of the trade happening as far back as January. The two teams almost struck a deal at the trade deadline. Conley spoke of a conversation he had with Grizzlies owner Robert Pera around the trade deadline. Pera let him know that the two pillars of the organization (Conley and Mark Gasol) were being place on the trade market and that the team was looking to rebuild and be younger around budding star Jaren Jackson Jr. He reflected on his mindset after the conversation. Conley said,

“We could sense it. The direction of the franchise, the last few seasons wasn’t the way we wanted it to go. We were fortunate enough to get a good young talented guy like Jaren in the draft. When you start to see those building blocks, you kind of see the writing on the walls.”

On the podcast he reflected on the difficulties he went through as the trade deadline came and went and the team went through an overhaul. He talked about how it felt like half of the team was gone and it made him feel like he was “left in an empty room” as he watched so many of his teammates get traded.

He did talk about how there were positives to not being traded. He reflected on being soak it all in in Memphis. As a response to a question from Woj about being given the extra time with the organization he said,

“The last month and a half was about taking it all in. It was an opportunity for me to say ‘goodbye.’ I just wanted to really put a closure on that chapter. I really wanted to have fun for those last few months.”

Woj talked to him about the organic growth of the Grizzlies and Conley’s growth with the organization. He talked about how Conley was there with his teammates for years – some a decade. Woj asked him how he felt about the league now with the way it’s changing, with players teaming up to play together. He asked Conley if he felt like young players would have the type of relationship that he and Mark Gasol had. Conley reflected on the 10 years they spent together and said,

“I really doubt it. I think today’s game, the players, they’ve seen the options in front of them. They understand they have the ability to move and they have the power to move. They can team up wherever they want to. And it’s ‘OK.’ For us, twelve years ago, there wasn’t any of that going on. There was Kobe and those guys to look up to. Tim Duncan, Manu, Tony it was normal for us to look and those guys and say ‘they’ve stuck together. That’s what we’re going to do.’ I’m not sure if the same example is set now for the younger generation.”

Woj then turned the conversation to what lies ahead. He wanted to talk to Conley about his feelings towards his new home. Conley called his new team “a little shot in the arm.”

“Knowing what I’m coming into, the organization, the culture, the players – we have a really deep team. And the city is excited to have me. Salt Lake City has embraced me since the trade happened. It’s a fun time for me. I feel revitalized. I have a lot of energy and I’m just anxious to get started.”

It’s been a long six months that Conley has had to wait to know where he was landing. There’s been uncertainty and questions. But now that he’s settled in Salt Lake City, the teams, fans, and organization are ready to see where he and this team can go. Jazz fans are just as excited as Conley for the upcoming season. With there being no obvious favorite in the West, conference is wide open and the Jazz are primed and ready to take the open spot at the top.