Just short of three years ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves acquired Mike Conley in a three-team trade from the Utah Jazz. On Tuesday, Conley's tenure with Minnesota came to a conclusion as the 38-year-old was included in a 3-team deal and was shipped to the Chicago Bulls.
It’s a bit sad that someone who has had such a great career was dealt in what is essentially a salary dump (many believe it’s a precursor to a bigger move for the Wolves before Thursday’s trade deadline). With his time with Minnesota over, don’t let recency bias allow you to forget what a great move it was for the Timberwolves to acquire Conley.
Minnesota Mike.
— Alan Horton (@WolvesRadio) February 4, 2026
From 2/10/23 - 2/2/26 he played in 91% of all games.
MIN was +60 games over .500 in those games.
MIN was +708 in his minutes.
3x Playoffs
2x West Finals
19 Post Wins -- 4th most franchise history.
He changed the culture.
Thank you, Mike. pic.twitter.com/dJCJVFlPDB
Conley provided stellar veteran leadership and on-court play
Altogether, Conley got to appear in 215 regular season and 35 postseason games while with the Timberwolves. The 44 appearances didn’t go well this season. The 19-year-veteran was benched to begin the year (started 9 games when a player was out) and shot just 32.2% from the field.
Sometimes an older player just falls off a cliff rapidly. We saw it with Chris Paul this season while he was with the Los Angeles Clippers after he started all 82 games for the San Antonio Spurs in 2024-25. That is what has seemed to happen with Conley this year.
Let’s not forget, though, that during his first two full seasons, Conley shot 42.8 percent from beyond the arc. He possessed a 4.34 assist-to-turnover ratio and was the starting point guard on back-to-back squads that reached the conference finals. Conley was a wonderful veteran leader who Anthony Edwards gave the awesome nickname of Bite Bite.
Forget this season. Mike Conley with the Timberwolves should be looked at in a positive light. Even with his struggles this season, he still was playing more than the player he was dealt for: D’Angelo Russell (traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, now with the Dallas Mavericks). While there's a good chance that Chicago will buy out Conley, if he finds a new NBA home, he should receive a very warm ovation from the Timberwolves fans if/when he does return to the Target Center as a visiting player.
Oh yeah, the Timberwolves also received Nickeil Alexander-Walker in the trade, who was such a key reserve for the back-to-back conference finals squads. The trade was an easy win for Minnesota, and Conley should be remembered as a starting player on the best two-year stretch in team history.