NBA free agency looms for Utah Jazz's Joe Ingles

Joe Ingles has value that can't be found in stat sheets or analytical measurements.

The Utah Jazz have learnt this over the past two and a bit seasons, as did his European and NBL clubs and the Australian Boomers before that.

• SHARE
• Share on Facebook SHARE
• Share on Twitter TWEET
• Pin to Pinterest PIN
• Link

But as much as Ingles loves his life in Salt Lake City, if other NBA clubs have noticed his talents, then when his contract expires at season's end he could be faced with a difficult quandary, especially if one of the league's contenders come calling.

The 29-year-old isn't just thinking about himself, either – his young family comes into the equation as well.

"It's so early in the season that it hasn't come to mind, with the kids now everything else gets bumped out the way," Ingles said in Salt Lake City last week.

"I love it here. I couldn't see myself playing for another team but that's something we will come to when we get further down the path, plus this is the NBA, it's a crazy world and you don't know what comes next."

While Ingles isn't playing to boost his market value, he no doubt caught some eyes this season, twice passing his NBA career high, including a 21-point, four-steal effort against the Golden State Warriors in Utah on Thursday night.

Jazz coach Quin Snyder has regularly praised Ingles' impact on his side, firstly because he has accepted his role at every turn, even when the coach picks others ahead of him.

"Joe and I talk openly and respectfully and I respect his opinion," Snyder said.

"I told him at the start that this would be a tough year for him from the standpoint that he is going to have games where he plays a little and games where he plays a lot.

"The other night he played eight seconds in the first half to inbound a ball then, gosh, in the second half he played 18 minutes.

"He's one of those guys where a coach can rely on his character to handle fluctuations in his minutes, that's where we are, that's what makes a player like Joe really, really valuable."

Ingles has put work into the speed of his release when shooting and added some tricks to his offensive game after Snyder and the Jazz coaches told him he was deferring too often to others instead of taking open shots.

"I feel really good, really confident out there and that comes from having that comfort with the team and the players," Ingles said.

"I'm being aggressive where I can and getting other guys involved."

The Jazz have also had a horror run of injuries to their shooting guards and small forwards which are the two positions Ingles plays most in, although Snyder has used him as a "point forward" or undersized power forward in some lineups.

Ingles' improvement offensively has impressed his coach and has reminded Australian fans of Ingles' NBL years with South Dragons where he was an aggressive scorer.

"He can play four positions, at least that's what he says, but I tell him you have to be able to guard four positions," Snyder joked.

"But he's a very solid piece to what we are doing.

"Sometimes when guys are a little older, relatively speaking, you don't see much progress in their games.

"But Joe has been working with [assistant coach] Zach Guthrie and there are some things like his floater, his catch and shoot and his play-making which have improved which is good to see, I'm happy that happens in this program."

Ingles also had a boost on the personal front after his career-high night, with wife Renae and their twins back in the US after heading home briefly.

"The kids had their immunisations and we just wanted to do that all with our doctor, especially for the first ones," Ingles said.

"We were away a lot in November and while Renae was home the NBL found out and asked her to do some [sideline] commentating and she really enjoyed it and the feedback was good too.

"It's a lot different with them all away.

"We had both got used to being away from each other [when Renae was playing elite netball], that was normal for us, but now you throw the kids in, it's been hard. But with Facetime and those apps it makes it much easier."