3 reasons why Joe Ingles would be a perfect signing for the Boston Celtics
By Seth Quinn
Boston Celtics reason No. 2: Skillset
If Ingles does happen to return close to the level he was playing at pre-injury, his skillset could be extremely valuable for the Boston Celtics off the bench. Any fan who has watched the team a lot knows how the team is stellar on defense, but struggles to hold on to the ball, and at times, hit open shots.
Thankfully, Ingles is solid at both.
Looking at assist-to-turnover ratio, a stat I like to personally look at to gauge a player’s playmaking, Ingles has a career average of 2.4, and to take it a step further, in five years of playoff runs, he has a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.7.
That number in the playoffs is especially important given how that was a huge issue with the current Celtics team. Looking at the assist to turnover ratios of all the players that averaged double-digit minutes per game in the playoffs (nine players), 2.7 would rank second behind Payton Pritchard (who played only 12.9 minutes a game) and just ahead of starting point guard Marcus Smart with 2.5.
Moving on to shooting, the Australian has a 3-point percentage of 41% in his career during the regular season and a career 39% 3-point percentage in the playoffs. The team as a whole during the regular season shot 39% from three, and those same nine players I analyzed earlier shot 37% from three as a collective in the playoffs this season.
Based on all of those numbers, Ingles at his best would be helpful to the team in areas they are weaker in. He’d provide versatility (ability to play on-ball and off-ball), and consistency both in the regular season and playoffs.
Even if post-injury Ingles isn’t back to playing like the Sixth Man of the Year candidate he was during the 2020-21 season, he can at least provide valuable depth at the wing position, something the C’s have been lacking in recent years.
To top it all off, Ingles has always been known as a sneakily good defender. While Rudy Gobert gets most of the credit for the Jazz having an elite defense, Ingles while healthy was probably one of their best perimeter defenders.
The ACL injury may hurt his defensive ability, but he’s always been a player who relies on IQ rather than athletic ability, so I doubt he suddenly becomes a terrible defender post-injury. At worst I’d say he becomes just a serviceable defender, which is fine coming off the bench.
All in all, Ingles’s skillset can be valuable, no matter how good he is when he returns from injury or where he slots in the rotation.