NBA Trades: 5 targets for the Jazz to replace Joe Ingles

NBA Trades: 5 targets for the Jazz to replace Joe Ingles – Cory Joseph

The Detroit Pistons are not in the mood for evaluation, currently in the second year of their rebuild and quickly spiraling down the NBA mountain yet again. They have a decent cast of cornerstones and are giving many youngsters a chance, ultimately shaping up for another bottom-five finish and the opportunity to select yet another top prospect.

At age 30, Joseph is one of the oldest players on the roster and is the single most experienced veteran. The Canadian was acquired last March to provide some stability (and also net a second-round pick), but was waived before free agency and then re-signed by Detroit.

Following the selection of number one overall pick Cade Cunningham, Joseph has returned to the backup point guard role where he’s been excellent. He’s doing the best he can to bring a young and struggling offense to life.

The Pistons invested in Joseph last summer because they liked what they saw out of him as a late-season starter and knew he would be reliable off the bench. On a team not competing anytime soon, and with little reason to keep players on the back-half of their careers, Joseph should be available if a team makes a legitimate push to acquire him.

Joseph’s most recent statistics resemble Ingles’ the most out of the five players on this list. He too is an efficient scorer and someone who doesn’t need the ball in his hands. He has lots of playoff experience, mainly in the second unit, on teams that recognized his playmaking ability and strong build for a guard.

The obvious difference between Joseph and Ingles is that they play different positions. At 6-3, Joseph is sort of like the Joe Ingles of point guards, if you don’t look too hard at the shooting metrics, that is.

Ingles uniquely combines passing skill and solid defense with exceptional three-point shot-making. This is what separates the two since Ingles is a legitimate 41 percent marksman and Joseph (43.0 percent from three on 2.4 attempts) is merely accurate when he gets a good look.

Joseph’s average annual salary of $5 million for the next two years is in the ballpark of what the Jazz would like in a replacement, and it also doesn’t prevent Ingles from re-signing this summer.

Whether the Jazz want to trade for Joseph or not depends on how much faith they have in their current reserve guards. Do they believe that Trent Forrest and Jared Butler are ready to be facilitators and defensemen come playoff time?