The Utah Jazz may be out of the playoffs, and that was a given before the season even began, but some Jazz alumni will be in the postseason.
Jazz fans know about Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and Mike Conley for obvious reasons, but not many pay attention to Joe Ingles. Not because he wasn't loved in Utah - he certainly was - but because Ingles isn't doing much these days.
It's quite reasonable. Ingles is 37 years old and is not the player he was during the peak of his playing days with the Jazz. However, that has not stopped the Timberwolves from turning to him for their upcoming playoff series against the Lakers.
No, Ingles isn't going to play, pending team-wide foul trouble, but head coach Chris Finch revealed how the Timberwolves are using Ingles in their prep for their series against the Lakers.
Chris Finch on who is playing Luka Doncic on scout team
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) April 15, 2025
Luka=Joe Ingles
“We have our scout team ready. Yeah, it’s hard to replicate everything he does. We have Joe Ingles kind of simulating things, who gives us a comp on size and IQ for sure, but it’s certainly tough.” pic.twitter.com/VEss3TmVV7
It seems like a bizarre way to try to take one of the NBA's best players out of the equation with someone who not only has not been part of the rotation, but was never as good as Doncic currently is.
But there is a rationale to this.
Why this moves makes some sense
Again, Ingles was never the player Doncic is and certainly isn't now. However, Ingles was very good at using his finesse to impact the way he did when he was at the top of his game. He wouldn't look like someone who could use his body to create scoring opportunities, but Ingles was competent on that front, even if he was hardly ever the Jazz's leading scorer and was never their go-to scorer.
He was also a very good playmaker for a wing his size, and that's how he made the Jazz a frisky team for several years. His court vision was not to be denied, even if he never came close to leading the league in assists. Doncic is much like that times 100, but the body of work still counts.
The Timberwolves will certainly be in for a rude awakening if they think Ingles plays exactly like Doncic because that assertion is ridiculous. Still, the similarities between the two are easy to notice. If a player on the roster plays like Doncic, it is Ingles.
Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle are their most potent scorers for sure, but their playing styles are not the same as Doncic's. This strategy will likely not stop Doncic in his tracks, but it just might limit him enough to give Minnesota an edge.
It helps that the Timberwolves have experience in the playoffs against Doncic, but nonetheless, teams turning to the unorthodox has helped them in playoff series. Just look at the Jazz.
Back in the 90s, no one would have thought Greg Ostertag would be the one to be the closest thing the NBA had to a Shaq stopper. Two playoff series later against Utah, and he showed he was. Ingles certainly won't be the Doncic stopper, but he might be the one to create one.