Report: Joe Ingles Back to Minnesota on Veteran Minimum

The savvy Aussie is coming back to the Twin Cities. Will he play more than 19 games this season?

While Minnesota Timberwolves fans were eagerly awaiting news of what will become of free agent Nickeil Alexander-Walker, ESPN’s Shams Charania hit us with a surprising signing.

This was unexpected to almost everyone. Even The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski didn’t have this on his bingo sheet. Joe Ingles is now returning to the NBA for his 12th season after playing minimal minutes with the Wolves last season. Part of that was due to injury, but mostly due to a roster crunch where Finch had to squeeze the most out of his “eight starters” to maximize chemistry.

It was almost exactly a year ago, Ingles signed with the Wolves.

Ingles will be turning 38 years old before the 2025-2026 season begins. It’s unclear how much gas he has left in the tank, though he did show some a flash last season. No, not his inbounding expertise. On February 1st, 2025, the Wolves, who were without Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle, and Donte DiVincenzo, and faced the tanking Washington Wizards.

Ingles played a game-high 19.5 minutes and nearly led a fourth quarter comeback victory. He dusted off his pick-and-roll game, posting 10 points and 3 assists while leading Minnesota with a +11 plus-minus score.

Dane Moore broke down how Ingles’ veteran minimum contract may affect the Wolves cap sheet. It’s a minor hit as far as the potential hope of signing a player who will play more than 114 total minutes. Krawczynski indicated as much, so Tim Connelly may not be done quite yet.

Another reason for bringing Ingles back may be the #mentorship aspect of it all. Minnesota did just sign an 18-year-old Australian by the name of Rocco Zikarsky in the second round of the NBA draft.

During the introduction press conference, Zikarsky was asked about which Australian NBA players he’s watched. He named off a handful of names, conveniently leaving out Joe Ingles until Timberwolves General Manager, Matt Lloyd, yelled out his name from the crowd. Zikarsky scoffed and poked fun at Ingles not playing much anymore.

On a more serious note, though Ingles and Zikarsky don’t play the same position, the knowledge that Ingles can impart to his 7’4” compatriot can be invaluable. Ingles is one of the brighter minds in the NBA and also had to adjust from playing international basketball to the NBA. Though Zikarsky will spend more time with Iowa than Minnesota, having Ingles within earshot could be do wonders for his development.

This type of “signing a mentor” behavior harkens back to 2015, when the Wolves brought in Kevin Garnett, Tayshaun Prince, and Andre Miller to help mentor the young Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and point guard Zach LaVine. Fellow draft pick, Joan Beringer (18), will get to learn from Rudy Gobert. Mike Conley is still here to help guide Rob Dillingham (20). Hopefully newly signed Naz Reid can keep growing as a leader and help Leonard Miller (21) evolve into a contributing bench player.

Until then, we’ll always have some Jinglin’ Joe highlights for you to enjoy.