Joe Ingles
Finally, one of Utah’s most pleasant surprises this season has been Joe Ingles. If someone had told me prior to this season’s start that the Jazz may have a hard time retaining Joe this offseason, I probably would have just laughed. Sure, he had been a nice compliment off the bench and a good glue guy in the past, but a reliable and crucial contributor? On a nightly basis? I honestly did not see that coming.
Yet sure enough, the fact remains that Ingles has turned into one of Utah’s most reliable and formidable role players. He makes several winning plays, is a knockdown three-point shooter and is excellent for cohesion and chemistry. He’s certainly done enough to draw the attention of plenty of teams throughout the league, therefore expect several suitors to try to earn his services.
But let’s make one thing very clear, Joe Ingles is in fact a restricted free agent, therefore Utah has complete power to retain him if they wish to do so. Other teams can extend offers to him, but if he accepts any of those, the Jazz will still have the opportunity to match and keep him on board.
Yet once again, the bad thing there is that desperate teams with plenty of cash to spare and a willingness to overpay, may very well extend lucrative offer sheets to Joe Ingles and if the Jazz feel like such offers put them in too tight of a financial pinch, they could be in for some tough decisions regarding their stellar Aussie swingman.
Therefore, much like in the cases of Hill and Hayward, Ingles’ postseason performance could go a long way for him to prove how much he truly is worth, not only to teams around the league, but even more so to prove how indispensable he is to this Jazz team.