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Joe Ingles will be on the free agent market this offseason after having the best season of his three-year career in the league — and while he's made it clear that he would like to remain with the Utah Jazz, there are rumblings that teams would be willing to greatly reward him for signing elsewhere.
“He should (earn eight figures),” an anonymous NBA executive told Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports. “The only reason it’d be less than that is if he doesn’t play the restricted game right.”
The salaries have exploded into exorbitant amounts during the last few years and they're about to blow that out of the water even more after this year's new collective bargaining agreement that is bound to see even more lucrative contracts.
$10,000,000 per year used to be money that was only given to a Sixth Man of the Year-type of a candidate, but Ingles has been just that for the Jazz, providing a three-and-D hybrid at the forward position and providing some needed toughness off the bench during their playoff run.
An anonymous NBA scout went as far as to make a player-to-player comparison to echo the executive's point.
“If Moe Harkless can make over $10 million, then Ingles is deserving of that,” he said.
Ingles only averaged 7.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game through 24 minutes per contest, but his Iron Man-like performance through three seasons is worth gold for a team that has faced plenty of injuries this season — having played in all but four of 246 regular season games.
Teams are bound to make good offers for Ingles and his dynamic two-way play, but unless one overpays, he should have no problem staying in Utah and possibly garnering a starting shooting guard spot next season.
