Northwest Notes: Conley, Gay, Murray, Brown

The Jazz‘s five-game losing streak shows how much they miss point guard Mike Conley, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News writes. He’s the only natural point guard on the team and Utah misses his experience and calming presence, particularly in crunch time.

Conley has been out since Nov. 19 due to a knee injury. The Jazz guard in the second year of a three-year contract, though next season’s salary of $24.36MM is only partially guaranteed.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

• Speaking of Conley, Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune passed along an injury update on the point guard (Twitter link). He has progressed to running and has incorporated on-court movements with shooting. He will continue daily rehab and treatment. Another Jazz veteran, forward Rudy Gay, has progressed to on-court ballhandling and shooting, and has participated in parts of practice. He’s been out since Nov. 13 due to a finger sprain on his left hand.
• On Monday, Jamal Murray looked more like the player he was before suffering a serious knee injury that sidelined him last season. Murray scored 31 points and Nuggets coach Michael Malone says his point guard is capable of even bigger performances, Mike Singer of the Denver Post writes. “I think he’s still got another level,” Malone said.
• Nuggets swingman Bruce Brown says he’s shown another element to his game this season, Singer tweets. “I’m talking to everyone who thought I couldn’t play a guard. That’s to a lot of GMs in the NBA,” Brown said. Brown, previously with the Nets, is in the first year of two-year contract and holds a $6.8MM option for next season. He has seen some action at the point this season.