The Memphis Grizzlies are down in their playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs 0-2 and probably won't even end up winning a game. Nobody expected much from this depleted Grizzlies team headed into the playoffs, so at this point, many of their fans are just ready to look forward to next season.
As for what that team will look like next season, nobody really knows yet. The Grizzlies expect to have Marc Gasol back fully ready despite breaking his foot, but Mike Conley is a question mark. Conley will be a free agent this offseason, and his future with Memphis is as uncertain as it has ever been.
It was expected all along that Conley would have a lot of suitors this summer in free agency, but nobody really expected him to leave Memphis. That is, of course, until a report surfaced that Conley is expected to sign elsewhere this offseason. Conley has plenty of good reasons to leave Memphis, but this report still came as a surprise to many because he and Gasol are really close and Gasol just signed a five-year deal last offseason.
Grizzlies' general manager Chris Wallace is not buying that report, though, and remains extremely confident that Conley will still be playing his basketball in Memphis next season.
"We are undefeated in re-signing our core players, and we will remain so," Wallace said "We are going to re-sign Mike Conley."
That statement from Wallace is emphatic and makes it seem like he has no doubt in his mind about Conley's intentions to stay. It is unknown if Wallace has been told by Conley that he is staying, but it sure seems like it. Last offseason, Gasol didn't even take any free agent visits as he was always going to stay in Memphis. That isn't the case with Conley, though, as he has said that he will take his visits to see what is out there. That would be a wise decision from Conley considering that the immediate future for Memphis isn't bright.
Conley is not participating in the playoffs since he is dealing with an Achilles injury, but that is not expected to be a long-term issue. That is evidenced by the fact that he wants to play in the 2016 Olympics. Conley's free agency will be a huge storyline this summer with all of this recent news. Memphis may still be the favorites to re-sign him despite the report that he is expected to leave, but it doesn't seem like it's as much of a slam dunk as Wallace thinks it is.
