Joe Ingles
Ingles will be 30 years old prior to the start of the regular season this fall and will be hitting free agency for the first time. As a restricted free agent, the Jazz will have an opportunity to match any offer sheets that Ingles signs.
The Australian didn’t join the NBA until he was 27 years of age but has consistently improved over his three years of play in the U.S. Over his NBA career, Ingles has attempted 63 percent of his shots from three-point range, hitting at above league-average each season but knocking down an impressive 44.1 percent of his attempts in 2016-17. Additionally, Ingles played in all 82 games and launched 3.4 threes per contest.
Ingles has played the majority of his NBA minutes at small forward, although his ball-handling skills allow him to play some two and a bit of point forward. He isn’t a very good rebounder, however, making it somewhat difficult to deploy him as a stretch-four.
While a much more consistent outside shooter and being a better play-maker than Bjelica, Ingles is nowhere near the rebounder and even the defender as the Timberwolves’ current version of a point forward/stretch-four.
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Verdict: Ingles is an all-around better player than Bjelica and only one year older, but he’ll also no doubt command more in salary on the (semi) open market. Don’t expect the Wolves to pony up what it would take to land the restricted free agent, especially given his shortcomings both defensively and on the boards.