Severe decline! What is the level of Conley, 37?

Everyone knows that the Timberwolves season is over.

After the Timberwolves was eliminated, Edwards said in an interview: "I don't think we should be in pain. For me, this is motivation. I am only 23 years old and there are still many opportunities in the future. The one that really makes me feel uncomfortable is Conley. I regret him. We tried it last year, and we tried it again this year, and will continue next year."

Edwards is true. He is only 23 years old. He has led the team to the Western Conference Final twice in 5 years. This is almost the best achievement of the Timberwolves' playoffs in history. Garnett, the former wolf king, played for 12 years, but only once broke through the first round.

So, there are many opportunities for Huazi to continue to compete for the championship, but Conley is not the case. This No. 4 pick in 2007 is already 37 years old. Looking back at the past 18 years of career, let alone the championship, Conley has never even touched the floor in the finals.

It is also because of this, the veteran told his teammates before the start of the playoffs last year: "My sense of urgency has reached a new level. I think no one wants to win a championship more than me. I selfishly told the young men in the team that for me, friends, help me and let us win it while I still have the ability."

Conley's words are very fighting spirit and have a great motivational effect on Timberwolves players. However, the reality is cruel. For two consecutive years, they all fell in the Western Conference Finals and only won one game in two years.

Of course, there are also players who can maintain extremely outstanding levels in their 19th season, 20th season and even 22 seasons of their career, but Conley does not have such talent. This season he has experienced a sharp decline in the playoffs.

First of all, Edwards' aberration has caused many people to ignore Conley's downturn.

Five games, Conley averaged 22.6 minutes per game, scored 4.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists, shooting percentage of 21.2%, three-point shooting percentage of 28.6%, and his real shooting percentage was only 32.5%.

Among them, the life-and-death battle between G5, Conley played 21 minutes in the game, made 0 of 3 shots, no points, only handed in 0 points, 0 rebounds and 1 assist, with a plus-negative value as low as -22, which is almost the worst performance in the playoffs after Conley joined the Timberwolves.

Zoom in to the entire playoffs, Conley's performance cannot be said to be very good. He played in a total of 15 games, averaged only 6.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists per game, 30.2% of the field goal percentage, 33.3% of the three-point shooting percentage, and only 40.6% of the real shooting percentage.

As a comparison, Conley in the playoffs in the past two years:

-2023, 5 games, averaged 12.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 6.4 assists per game, 45.5% of three-point shooting percentage, 64.0% of real shooting percentage, 15 games, 11.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 6.4 assists per game, 39.5% of three-point shooting percentage, and 55.3% of real shooting percentage, you can see that in just one year, Conley's performance has declined to a large extent. In the face of the Thunder in the West Finals, fans always say that Edwards cannot break the double team, but as a point guard, Conley cannot even handle balls and organize ties, which is also a major reason for the Timberwolves to be eliminated.

Of course, there are also good things.

First, Conley performed well in the regular season, averaging 8.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of 41.0%, and a real shooting percentage of 57.3%. The contribution per unit time was not much lower than the previous year;

Second, although Conley was repeatedly named in the playoffs, his defensive effect was not as bad as expected, and even from the data was quite good: this year's playoffs, Conley averaged 8 shots, his opponent's shooting percentage dropped by 4.8%, and his three-point shooting percentage dropped by 10.9%.

但，康利的年纪摆在那里，下赛季他将是38岁，到时候他的体能、防守、角色地位下滑几乎是必然——其实这个赛季已经能看出来了，上上赛季康利常规赛还能打31.4分钟，上赛季28.9分钟，本赛季只有24.7分钟。

Timberwolves are also preparing for Conley's decline. They chose Dillingham with the No. 8 pick in last year's draft. The latter averaged 10.5 minutes per game in the regular season, swallowing up some Conley's playing opportunities, but encountered DNP in the playoffs, and only played 3 games in total for 16 minutes, scoring 8 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists.

Only talk about Conley. It is conceivable that his playing time will be reduced in the new season, and his condition will continue to decline. He may not even be able to maintain his starting lineup, and there are not many opportunities for him to win the championship with the core.

Moreover, next year will be another contract year for Conley, his salary is only 11 million, not particularly much, but if the Timberwolves want some big changes, Conley may become a trading target.

It is worth mentioning that Edwards also said in an interview: "I can guarantee that no one will work harder than me this summer. I will try to make another effort, for Conley."

Edwards improved his three-pointer to the elite level last summer. There is reason to believe that he will continue to improve, with his potential, and with his future opportunities to bring championships to the Timberwolves, but will this happen before Conley leaves the Timberwolves? I'm afraid it's very difficult.