Utah Jazz Training Camp Battles: Back-Up Wing
Joe Ingles
It’s hard to say anything bad about Joe Ingles’ contribution to the Utah Jazz over the past couple years. By no means is he a star player for Utah, but he has risen to the occasion and given his all whenever his number has been called.
Ingles has stepped up and played both the two and three spots to back up the injured Burks, Hayward and Hood, and despite his non-athletic style (he’s called Slo-Mo Joe for a reason), he has been a dangerous deep ball threat (38.6 percent from three last season) and a hard-working defender while also serving as a positive locker room presence and glue guy.
While the Jazz should certainly have more depth on the wing than they have had in recent years, it’s still nice to know that reliable Joe Ingles will be waiting on the sideline. Barring any unforeseen setbacks with the aforementioned players, Ingles will likely log anywhere between a DNP and about 10 minutes per night.
But if any of the wings are injured or struggling, he could easily come in as a formidable three-point shooter and log more meaningful minutes.
So while the initial outlook for Ingles is that he will see his playing time largely evaporate behind Hood and Burks in the two-spot and Hayward and Johnson in the three-spot, you can count on him being ready at any given moment to jump in and do whatever is needed of him.
However, there’s a reason that the Jazz signed veteran Joe Johnson to come in ahead of Ingles on the depth chart and Iso Joe will very likely see more minutes than Slo-Mo Joe.
Next: Joe Johnson