Utah Jazz Best/Worst Case Series: Will Joe Ingles continue to improve?

If Joe Ingles can continue his trajectory of improving each and every year, he should yet again be a key piece to the Utah Jazz success in 2018-19.

If someone would have told you that Joe Ingles‘ best basketball would come while he was 29 and 30 years old, you might have been hard-pressed to believe it. After all, it had taken Ingles a long time to finally find a spot in the league, and most players don’t see vast improvement once they reach 30.

However, such has been exactly the case for Ingles, who has gotten better and better each season with the Utah Jazz. Last year he put up a career high 11.5 points per game while shooting a career best 46.7 percent from the field and maintaining an incredible 3-point percentage of 44 percent. He also set career marks in rebounds (4.2) and assists (4.8).

Beyond all that, though, perhaps what’s most impressive about Ingles is how he has transformed himself into a formidable perimeter defender. Heading into the 2016-17 season, Quin Snyder made it clear that if Ingles wanted to see court time, he had to be reliable on defense. He responded in a big way and has become exactly the kind of defender the Jazz needed.

So considering that he’s nearing 31 years old, can we assume that Ingles has reached his ceiling? Or does the gritty Aussie still have more room to grow? Answering that question will go a long way in determining his best and worst case scenarios for the 2018-19 season.

Best Case Scenario

The ideal situation for Joe Ingles will be that he’ll simply continue on the same trajectory and keep improving, particularly in terms of his deep-ball shooting and defense, which have become his two greatest skills. Shooting better than 44 percent as he has in each of the past two seasons will be hard to surpass, but Ingles is certainly capable.

He’s already one of the deadliest 3-ball threats in the league, but in a best case scenario, he could finish even better, going as far as to lead the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage. To become an even more dire threat, Ingles will need to increase his volume significantly. At times last season, he could be a little too gun shy. While it’s great to see him focus on involving his teammates, on many occasions Utah’s best 3-point shooter needed to simply pull the trigger.

Ideally, he’ll elevate his 3-point attempts to at least seven per game while maintaining an incredible percentage, perhaps even leading the NBA. Furthermore, if Ingles is to hit his best case scenario, he’ll add more to his offensive repertoire than just 3-point shooting. We saw a little of this last year as Ingles developed a nice little floater, but if he can punish opposing defenses that cover him too close with even more crafty offensive moves, he’ll be deadly.

In short, Ingles’ best case scenario will be that he puts up career numbers once again, including cutting down turnovers which have been one of his few weaknesses. He’s been one of Utah’s most steady contributors in recent seasons, so if he can keep that up while perhaps diversifying his game somewhat, it will be a huge win for Utah.

And I’ll conclude this section by adding this little plug – in order to have the most perfect best case season ever, Ingles needs to finally earn an invite to the NBA All-Star 3-Point Contest and take home the trophy with flying colors.

Worst Case Scenario

It isn’t that challenging to define Ingles’ worst case scenario. While it’s hard to see a player as reliable as him experience a major slide, essentially his worst case would involve him plateauing and being unable to continue getting better. Perhaps his 3-point percentage would finally dip down to the low 40s or high 30s and maybe his defense would become a step slow.

If those things were to happen, the Jazz could potentially look to replace him in the starting lineup, perhaps relying on Royce O’Neale to play the three or for Thabo Sefolosha or Jae Crowder to play small forward creating a bigger starting five.

I don’t really see those things happening, especially considering how much we’ve seen Ingles grow the past two years. But as he surpasses 31 years of age, it’s completely feasible that he may struggle to continue to be as effective as he was formerly.

I think Ingles has a few more impactful years left in him, though. Between his work ethic, durability and steady style of play, he should be able to continue to produce at a high level next season and in years to come. As long as he can continue to knock down deep balls with ease, he’ll be a much-needed asset for the Utah Jazz.