Speaking with the media on Wednesday, new Boston Celtics guard Mike Conley continued to sing the same refrain with regards to signing with the organization in free agency. Earlier this summer, Conley talked about wanting to play for a historic, legacy franchise at the end of his career, and on Wednesday he said that being with the Celtics is a "shot in the arm."

And that makes sense: After all, Conley is in his 20th NBA season. After that long in the league, fresh starts and new motivations are probably welcome. And the Celtics certainly provide that given their expectations to win and all the new pieces on the roster.

Now 38 years old, Conley was the No. 4 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft out of Ohio State. Over his 19-year career, he's played with the Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves. A reliable and durable player, he's a one-time All-Star, and he was also a member of the 2012-13 All-Defensive team.

Conley has been to the playoffs in 13 separate years, making runs to the conference finals with the 2013-13 Grizzlies and the Timberwolves in 2023-24 and 2024-25. He's averaged 12.9 ppg in the playoffs, so he will be a valuable contributor should the Celtics make a playoff run again this season. They are certainly expected to.

A career 13.6 ppg scorer, he only averaged 1.7 ppg for Minnesota last season. He also only played 18.4 minutes per game, so his on-court minutes could continue to reduce. However, his influence on younger players shouldn't be understated.

Nearly two decades ago, he took Ohio State to the national championship game after averaging 11.3 ppg and a Big Ten-best 6.1 assists and 2.2 steals. 

Earlier this summer, Celtics owner Bill Chisholm spoke about the team's arena situation, saying that the team could look to build its own arena in the future. Right now, the Celtics are paying tenants of the building owned by the Delaware North Group, which owns the Boston Bruins.

Bruins owner Charlie Jacobs spoke about the situation on Tuesday before the Bruins' season-opening win against the New York Rangers.

The preseason opener for the Celtics is set for Oct. 8. Boston will play four preseason games in total before kicking off the regular season on Oct. 20 against the Detroit Pistons in Detroit. The Pistons were the No. 1 seed in the playoffs last year while the Celtics were No. 2.