Mike Conley Signs One-Year Deal With Celtics, Becomes 14th Player in NBA History to Reach 20 Seasons

Mike Conley is headed to Boston. The 38-year-old point guard has reportedly agreed to a one-year deal with the Celtics, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, ending his three-and-a-half-year run with the Minnesota Timberwolves and sending him to the Eastern Conference for the first time in his career. The move also puts Conley in rare company: he becomes just the 14th player in NBA history to reach 20 seasons.

Conley’s career began in 2007, when the Memphis Grizzlies took him with the No. 4 overall pick out of Ohio State. He spent his first 12 seasons in Memphis, building a reputation as one of the league’s steadiest, most defensively sound point guards even as he flew under the national radar. His best individual season came in 2013-14, when he averaged 17.2 points and 6.0 assists per game and picked up his first (and to date only) MVP vote. Memphis dealt him to the Utah Jazz after the 2018-19 season, and it was there, during the 2020-21 campaign, that Conley finally made his only career All-Star team.

A Steady Hand Through Three Franchises

After three and a half seasons in Utah, Conley was traded to Minnesota, where he became a stabilizing veteran presence alongside Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves’ young core. He started for the Timberwolves for roughly two and a half seasons before shifting into a backup role last year, a change that came as Minnesota leaned more heavily on its younger guards. In that reduced role this past season, Conley averaged 4.5 points, 2.9 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 18.4 minutes per game.

His exit from Minnesota lines up with a busy offseason for the franchise. The Timberwolves reportedly landed All-Star guard LaMelo Ball in a blockbuster trade with the Charlotte Hornets, agreed to re-sign guard Ayo Dosunmu early in free agency, and parted ways with forward Julius Randle in a separate trade. With that influx of guard depth, a path back to Minnesota for Conley effectively closed.

Joining an Star-Studded Boston Backcourt

According to Charania’s reporting, Conley “sifted through a handful of offers before a decision,” with his agents, Steven Heumann and Jessica Holtz of CAA Sports, informing the Celtics of his choice Wednesday morning. Financial terms of the contract were not immediately available.

In Boston, Conley slots into a backcourt that already includes All-Stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, along with rotation pieces Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Ron Harper Jr. The Celtics’ offseason has plenty of other threads still unresolved — Brown himself was previously at the center of trade talks tied to a since-collapsed pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo, and speculation about his future in Boston hasn’t fully quieted. But locking in a veteran table-setter like Conley, even on a modest one-year deal, gives Brad Stevens’ front office some added stability and experience at the point guard spot heading into next season. Bettors tracking Boston’s title odds this summer have already started weighing offers from a DraftKings promo code and a FanDuel promo code as the futures market adjusts to the added depth.

Rare Company: The 20-Season Club

Reaching a 20th NBA season is an exceedingly rare feat. Conley now joins a list that includes just 13 other players: LeBron James (23 seasons), Vince Carter (22), Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki (21 apiece), Robert Parish, Chris Paul and Kevin Willis (21), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Jamal Crawford, Udonis Haslem and Kyle Lowry at 20. Conley will be joined in that class by Al Horford, who is also entering his 20th season after reportedly agreeing to a two-year, $14 million deal with the Golden State Warriors last week.

Conley’s longevity has never been about gaudy numbers. He’s built his 19-year résumé on efficiency, low-mistake basketball and a reputation as one of the league’s most respected teammates — a four-time winner of the NBA Sportsmanship Award and a two-time recipient of the league’s Teammate of the Year honor. Boston is betting that even at a diminished statistical level, that experience and locker-room presence still carries real value for a team with championship aspirations. Fans looking to get in early on next season’s Celtics props can also check a BetMGM promo code or browse PrizePicks promo code offers for daily fantasy lineups once training camp opens.

As free agency continues to unfold across the league, Conley’s move gives the Celtics another veteran option to soak up minutes behind their All-Star wing duo, while Minnesota pivots toward a retooled young backcourt built around Ball, Edwards and Dosunmu. Both sides now shift focus to filling out the rest of their rosters before training camp opens later this year.