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SALT LAKE CITY — If Donovan Mitchell has his way, Joe Ingles will be moving even slower when he finally leaves the game.
“I told Joe he's not retiring until I do,” Mitchell said on Tuesday. “So he's got some years left, hopefully.”
While Ingles probably won’t be looking to appease Mitchell by playing another decade-plus, he will be around for at least another three seasons after he agreed to a one-year extension with the Utah Jazz. His contract now runs through the 2021-22 season.
Ingles, himself, acknowledged that by the end of the new deal he’ll be at a “pretty old age,” and is simply thankful for the Jazz wanting him to still be around then.
Ingles’ game, though, should age well. He relies more on his knowledge of the game and shooting than any kind of athleticism (you don’t get the moniker “Slow-Mo Joe” for nothing). So the new deal might really be a win-win for both sides. Because for Ingles, it was a no-brainer.
“It was an easy decision once it kind of came up,” Ingles said.
It was a decision made even more easy when Quin Snyder received his extension, just about ensuring that Ingles won’t play for another coach as long as he’s in Utah.
“He’s the only coach I've played for here and the only coach I envision playing for,” Ingles said. “He's a big part of it. Obviously the Millers, the organization and Utah in general, how I've been welcomed with my family, and then obviously to have a coach like Quin is kind of the cherry on the cake really — he kind of tops it off.”
Ingles illustrates the era of Jazz basketball more than anyone. He came to the team via the waiver wire and transformed into one of the league's best playmaking forwards — and really among the best small forward in the game. He embodies the culture that Snyder has built.
The guy that no one believed in pestered Paul George right out of the playoffs and donned a makeshift headband of medical tape — before making a game-clinching three. That's who Ingles is — gritty, tough, annoying to everyone not on his side. That's why Jazz coaches, management, teammates and fans all love him.
He means something to Utah — and Utah means something to him.
The Jazz are the only NBA team that Ingles has played a regular-season game for, he’s grown as a player under Quin Snyder, and his family likes it in Salt Lake City. This is where he wanted to be.
“It was an easy decision not only for me but for Renae and the kids,” Ingles said. “The kids are in school now and loving it, Renae's retired and, obviously, really likes it here too. It's obviously not just about me anymore, and I'm glad that Renae and the family are happy here and, yeah, very easy decision.”
Ingles, though, admitted that he didn’t realize that he was even eligible to sign an extension. But when his agent brought it up to him, Ingles happily told him to pursue it.
“For the Jazz to want me to be here — add another year to already two years I’ve got — puts me at a pretty old age at the end of it,” Ingles said. “I'm obviously really, really glad and thankful that they want me here as well. Not just us wanting to be here.”
He just might not want to be around as long as Mitchell hopes.
“Joe — he's been a guy since my rookie year just trying to teach me the ins and outs,” Mitchell said. “Trying to figure things out on the floor but he's been a guy to kind of lean on. Like I said, he's not done until I retire.”
