National Basketball Association

Utah Jazz: With Gordon Hayward Back, Joe Ingles May See Reduced Role

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Utah Jazz star Gordon Hayward made his season debut against the New York Knicks on Sunday and Joe Ingles’ minutes took a hit because of it.

Utah Jazz fans have come to love Joe Ingles. “Big Joe” or “Slo-Mo Joe,” as fans have come to know him, is a smart player, knocks down his three-pointers, and best of all, always makes the right play. However, in Utah’s defeat of the New York Knicks on Sunday, Ingles only played four minutes.

With Gordon Hayward returning from injury and Joe Johnson moving to the bench, this could become a common theme for Ingles.

Hayward logged 36 minutes in his season debut, and Johnson played 24 minutes off the bench. Those two are going to be taking up a lot of minutes on the wing, which will make it hard for Ingles to consistently see playing time.

Nevertheless, it’s nice to have a guy like him as emergency depth off the bench. He’s very versatile, he can play multiple positions and he’s perfect in a small-ball lineup.

Even with Hayward back in the fold, Ingles is going to find minutes. Guys love playing with him, and he’s certainly loved in the locker room. He impacts this young team on and off the court. Ingles may not be a big part of the rotation right now, but he’s someone who will play hard when his number is called.

Being so deep at multiple positions is a good problem to have. This Jazz team has so many weapons, and they can use so many different lineup combinations.

More from Purple and Blues

We’ve seen Jazz coach Quin Snyder roll out the “Triple Wing” lineup in the past, where three wing players are in with the two big men. Ingles is someone who can be used in many different ways because of his ball handling and ability to knock down open three-pointers. We could see him used as a stretch four at some points this year, we could see him doing the majority of the ball handling at one point, etc.

He may lose some of his minutes, but whether or not Ingles plays, he’ll continue to have a positive impact.

This article originally appeared on