Up until the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled off their blockbuster Karl-Anthony Towns trade, their roster was set to be a pretty close copy of the one that went to the Western Conference Finals last season. All the stars were remaining, and the only real regular rotation player leaving was Kyle Anderson, who was essentially replaced by the signing of Joe Ingles.
Of course, now the outlook is much different with Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in the picture. But the other role players down the bench remain the same, including the aforementioned Joe Ingles. The former Sixth Man of the Year candidate comes to Minnesota with some obvious connections to his teammates already.
Along with Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert, Ingles was a member of the Utah Jazz for several years, including the 2020-21 season where they racked up a 52-20 record and the top seed in the Western Conference. He will obviously bring with him some pre-established on-court and off-court chemistry with those guys.
In fact, that chemistry already manifested itself at media day on Monday. During a press conference with the local media members, Joe joked that he had one goal this season: to "rile Mike Conley up enough to get him to get his first career technical foul," according to Timberwolves reporter Dane Moore.
Joe Ingles said pretty much his only goal this season is to rile Mike Conley up enough to get him to get his first career technical foul.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) September 30, 2024
Ingles joked that he wants to get Mike Conley his first technical foul
Timberwolves fans are well aware of Mike Conley's composed nature. He has taken home the NBA Sportsmanship Award a record four times, including his first season in Minnesota during the 2022-23 season. He has also famously never incurred a technical foul in his entire 17-year career, always taking the high road and hardly ever letting his emotions take control of him.
This is certainly a notable achievement, as staying composed 24/7 on the court is not an easy thing to achieve for any player, regardless of personality type. But now, Joe Ingles is jokingly (or maybe not jokingly?) hoping to change that and get Mike to slip up enough to earn the first technical foul of his career.
I have to feel that Conley knows all the tricks Ingles might try to throw his way. It is hard to shake someone with Mike's character. But if he does make a mistake and gets his first tech, ideally it would come during an inconsequential moment and not during a clutch situation where it actually hurts the Wolves' chances of picking up a win.