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The beginning of NBA free agency is always a wild ride, and we certainly got a shocker today when we found out that the Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly bringing in Joe Ingles.
BREAKING NEWS:
— Renae Ingles (@RenaeIngles) June 30, 2022
Sources very close to free agent @Joeingles7 can confirm that he has agreed to a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.
CEO of the house, Renae Ingles, is thrilled for Joe and their family.
Joe himself, is said to be very bucking happy.#nba #nbanews pic.twitter.com/4yra9gQst3
Yes, that is Joe’s spouse Renae that broke the news, which was quickly corroborated by Chris Haynes.
Free agent forward Joe Ingles reached an agreement with the Milwaukee Bucks, league sources tell @YahooSports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 30, 2022
Let’s get the good stuff out of the way: Joe Ingles is a proven vet who is tough-as-nails and an asset on the floor, despite being a poor athlete (by NBA standards). He shoots 40.8% on threes over his 8-year career, and at 6’8” he at least has the size to serve at either forward spot. Additionally, he’s an outspoken advocate for autism awareness, and while he’s a beloved teammate Ingles has also earned a reputation as one of the NBA’s premier trash talkers. Per Michael Scotto, Ingles’ contract is for one year and takes up the majority of the taxpayer midlevel exception, meaning that Ingles is the free agent addition of this offseason for general manager Jon Horst.
Joe Ingles has agreed to a one-year, $6.5 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports told @hoopshype.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) June 30, 2022
Here’s the potential downside with Ingles: he turns 35 in October and tore his ACL in January 2022. That almost guarantees that he won’t be available for game action until sometime after the regular season is underway, and if that’s the case he’ll have to integrate into the team’s structure on the fly rather than during training camp. Ingles is a smart player and immediately upgrades Milwaukee’s perimeter offense (plus the Bucks have good enough defenders to make up for his shortcomings on that end), but will the challenge Ingles faces to get back on the court allow him to maximize his positive impact with Milwaukee? The Bucks seem to think so.
All in all, Joe Ingles is the kind of guy you want on your team and if he can play, he can help you on offense. Given how Milwaukee’s season ended last year, that’s the sort of reinforcement that could be helpful...as long as Ingles can get his physical abilities back to where they need to be. His archetype isn’t any of the ones that Bucks fans were targeting going into this part of the offseason, but...here we are.
In any case, welcome to Milwaukee, Joe and Renae and family! We hope to see you around for a while.