3 ways Joe Ingles can help the Milwaukee Bucks next season
By Dalton Sell
No. 2 – Joe Ingles can make the Milwaukee Bucks more versatile next season
Circling back to the Milwaukee Bucks’ second round loss to the Boston Celtics this past season, they clearly suffered from a lack of versatility. A significant portion of that could be attributed to the absence of Khris Middleton, who missed the entire series with an MCL sprain. However, even when Middleton was available throughout the regular season, it was clear that the Bucks lacked a similar sense of versatility that helped them win the title the year before. Adding Joe Ingles to this roster will undoubtedly help lessen those concerns next season.
Standing at 6-foot-8, Ingles can play either forward position at a high level, which will immediately help shore up the team’s versatility. The forward can be plugged into several different lineups with the Bucks depending on the situation, which will help tremendously. Defensively, Ingles has never been the most athletic or quickest player, but he has held his own. Ingles will not be utilized in the same breath as players like P.J. Tucker and Wesley Matthews, who were often tasked with taking on the assignment of guarding the opposing team’s best player, but he has proven to be a pest on that side of the ball. Though there are some questions as to how he might look on that side of the basketball coming off this ACL surgery, Ingles could be tasked with guarding different positions at a passable level when he is healthy, which would help to some extent at least. Where Ingles’ impact defensively may be most felt is defending the pick and roll, something the Bucks have struggled with in years past.
When he is healthy, Ingles will give the Bucks a legitimate small ball power forward to utilize in situations that call for Giannis Antetokounmpo to play the center position. Small ball was a key for the Bucks throughout their 2021 title run, as P.J. Tucker masterfully played the role of that smaller power forward next to Antetokounmpo. Though Ingles does not provide the same brand of robust defense that Tucker does, he brings more to the offensive side of the basketball. Shooting north of 40 percent from downtown in his career. Ingles will provide lethal shooting in those small lineups, which will be pivotal to giving Antetokounmpo, Holiday, and others more room to operate.
After watching the Bucks suffer in the postseason due to limited versatility, adding a piece such as Ingles was seemingly something the front office prioritized this offseason.