Many Boston Celtics fans are still recovering from a rollercoaster of a season, culminating with the team falling two wins short of an NBA title — a miraculous feat given they were under .500 as late as January 21st.
With the season concluding, it’s now time to turn our attention to the NBA offseason. While it’s easy for fans to overreact and push the team to make huge moves, like for example, trading Jaylen Brown for Kevin Durant, its more likely and more plausible Brad Stevens will make smaller moves to improve the bench, the clear weak point of the team in the NBA finals.
Along with adding to the bench, the C’s could use more veterans besides Al Horford, better shooting, better playmaking, and of course, more two-way players to further perfect their defensive identity.
Crazily enough, I’ve found one player that fits all those criteria and his name is Joe Ingles. Here are 3 reasons why Joe Ingles would be the perfect signing for the Boston Celtics this offseason.
Boston Celtics reason No. 1: Veteran presence and leadership
Joe Ingles has played in the NBA for eight seasons and turns 35 in October. He’s given the Jazz relative consistency, whether through his play on the court or availability, until last season at least. Unfortunately, Ingles tore his ACL in January of last season, but despite that, I feel like he can rebound pretty well given how he plays.
The biggest way that torn ACLs hurt players is athleticism. Recent players like Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson have rebounded somewhat well from ACL injuries given they didn’t rely on athleticism much to be good.
While I’m not saying Ingles is anywhere close to the level of either of those two players, he relies on athleticism even less than those two players. He likely will at least return close to the level he was at before being injured. Even if he doesn’t regain full form, he can be a veteran presence and great leader on the bench for the rest of the young guys.
No matter how he produces on the court, the Aussie swingman can be a valuable addition to the Boston Celtics due to his experience.