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Joe Ingles Rumors
Jon Krawczynski: From what I can gather on the Wolves' thinking on Ingles: He's a good vet, beloved by teammates and valued by coaches. Will take a spot without expecting big playing time without issue. Minott wanted to go elsewhere for minutes. Any young player would have similar frustration
Joe Ingles intends to re-sign with Timberwolves
Shams Charania: Free agent forward Joe Ingles intends to sign a one-year, $3.6 million deal to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves, sources tell ESPN. Wolves officials negotiated the deal with Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports to bring Ingles back for his 12th NBA season.
Michael Grange: Australian NBL prospect Alex Toohey told me that he has workout with the Raptors scheduled. Big playmaking wing who models his game after Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Ingles and others.
Jonah: Julius Randle on Mike Conley and Joe Ingles' veteran leadership: “I’ve talked all year about the leader that he is (Conley) for our team, and how he kinda keeps us balanced. -- How he or Joe is able to pull me to the side. Keep me level-headed. -- Those guys are huge."
Coach Chris Finch did something a little different to change the energy of the team from the start. He started Joe Ingles, whose autistic son Jacob is now able to attend games in an arena for the first time in his life. Ingles’ family has been living in Orlando this season, and they were here this week, but Ingles hadn’t played. Finch gave Ingles the start, with Ingles’ former teammate in Utah Mike Conley ceding his spot. “It was emotional,” Finch said. “Sometimes you gotta do the human thing. We always talk about all these minutes matter, and those minutes matter for another reason.”
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"So Chris, how did the conversation go with Joe when you brought it to him?" Chris Finch: "You know, he was really appreciative—emotional. And you know, obviously I had to have a conversation with Mike too, who was super pumped. And everyone in the organization was really excited for that, and for their family, and for Jacob in particular. But yeah, you know, Joe's meant so much to us this season. I can't begin to thank him for his leadership. In a team such as ours and the way we're constructed, we brought him here with a different vision, and that hasn't worked out just simply because we've got so much depth after the trade. We're just trying to get all these guys into a rhythm and connectivity and stuff. And he's been always ready. But his voice in the locker room, and his presence, and his personality on this team, and his leadership has meant everything—particularly for our young guys. So, you know, it's the least we could do."
The Wolves ran the first play for Ingles, who finished 0-for-3, but it didn’t matter that he didn’t score. “At this point in my career, if it happened it happened, and if it didn’t it didn’t,” Ingles said. “To look up there tonight and I could see my name, and especially with Jacob — obviously, to Mike as well, being cool with it, it’s rare in this league for someone to give up something that he’s earned over 16 years to give me that opportunity. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
Joe Ingles: "As a dad, I’m really proud. He’s worked so hard every day at school, therapy, speech. His team helps him fit in—in a not very friendly world, a lot of the time. For him to work so hard and now be out there with his brother and sister and his mom and all sit there and watch his dad—it’s just super cool. Especially with my daughter coming along, our youngest, to enjoy things with his brother and sister. I think a lot of people, especially with kids, think you miss out on stuff. It’s not just about buses, aquariums, schools, or cars—it’s not like, 'Oh, you’re in the NBA, you’ve got money, those problems go away.' They don’t. It’s a reality for us every day. Jacob’s doing great now, but there are still challenges we go through."
Joe Ingles on his son: 'Jacob doesn’t care that I play basketball. He just wants his dad home'
Joe Ingles: "Yeah, because I don’t think people understand. It gets kind of confused because of the money and the lifestyle. Yes, it’s a little less stressful because I can afford for Jacob to get what he needs. But it doesn’t take away the meltdowns in the supermarket. There were so many times my wife was alone with him, laying on the floor in public. You can feel people staring, judging, making comments—but they don’t know what he’s going through. Since he got diagnosed, we’ve tried to raise awareness. It doesn’t matter who you are—your lifestyle or your money. Jacob doesn’t care that I play basketball. He just wants his dad home.
Joe Ingles: My wife’s had so many situations while I’ve been away. She battles with three kids, or even one—it’s tough. You add the special needs part—it’s a real thing. We’ll keep pushing awareness. We’ll do whatever we can to help other families. People need to understand—it doesn’t go away with money. It doesn’t go away with your situation. All we can do is talk about it and give Jacob the best chance to fit into this crazy world."
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Jon Krawcynski: Joe Ingles' wife, Renae, and 3 kids have stayed at the family home in Orlando all season. They are in town this week. Son Jacob is autistic. Earlier this week he had a milestone. He watched an entire NBA game in arena for the 1st time. Finch starting Joe so they can see him play.
Throughout the last three minutes of the game, the crowd cheered whenever Ingles touched the ball and urged him to shoot, but the former Jazzman didn’t attempt a field goal. He finished the night with an assist and a rebound. Ingles was a fan-favorite during his eight seasons for the Jazz and set the all-time franchise record for 3-pointers made with 1,071. “He’s a legend. All the (former) guys, they come back, feel a lot of love, especially from the home crowd that we got here. We got the best fans, so I didn’t expect anything less,” Jordan Clarkson said.
As he faced his former team Monday night with his current team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Mitchell is no longer the youngster in the locker room. And Cleveland, like that 2021 Utah team, has the best record in the NBA at 26-4. This time, Conley’s words hit deeper for the now-28-year-old. “What I’ve learned is that this isn’t forever. We are not invincible. You have to appreciate this, because this doesn’t come around too often,” Mitchell told The Athletic over the weekend. “When Mike was saying that, it wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate it then, but when you’re as young as I was then, you don’t know what you don’t know. “I find myself telling the guys in this locker room the same stuff that Mike and Joe (Ingles) and Ricky (Rubio) used to tell me. What we have this season? This isn’t always the NBA. Not every locker room is like this.”
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