And-Ones: Wiseman, Toppin, Luis, Ingles
Is James Wiseman headed to Israel? That’s a real possibility, Sportando’s Dario Skerletic relays.
According to Tomer Givati of Israel Hayom, Wiseman has received an offer from Maccabi Tel Aviv. The free agent center is reportedly considering a move overseas in order to play more consistently.
Wiseman appeared in four games with the Pacers this season before he was released the day after Christmas. The former No. 2 overall pick only appeared in one game during the previous season due to an Achilles tear.
Here’s more from around the international basketball world:
- Another Israeli team, Hapoel Tel Aviv, is reportedly in talks with another former NBA big man, Jacob Toppin, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando, via Sport5. Toppin is considered Jewish and therefore would not count as a foreign player, Maggi notes. Toppin was waived in mid-December by the Hawks as a two-way player after he underwent season-ending right shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. He suffered the injury in a G League game with the College Park Skyhawks.
- Former St. John’s star RJ Luis, the 2025 Big East Player of the Year, has committed to LSU but is likely to encounter a long eligibility fight, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. Luis went undrafted last year, then signed a two-way contract with the Jazz before being traded to the Celtics in early August. He was waived by the Celtics before signing an Exhibit 10 contract with the Maine Celtics, Boston’s G League affiliate. The Maine Celtics waived Luis, who was injured, before he played a game.
- Joe Ingles said he was eager to keep playing. That’s why he signed a two-year deal with Melbourne United after finishing out the season with the Timberwolves, he told Olgun Uluc of ESPN. “I knew, deep down, I had that itch to play,” he said “We would play pick-up every game day, and I would be competing, I would play really well, I felt really good. I obviously just wasn’t getting the minutes with the team we had in Minnesota.”
Joe Ingles Signs Two-Year Contract With Melbourne United
Longtime NBA forward Joe Ingles has officially signed a two-year contract with Melbourne United, the team announced in a press release.
It’s a homecoming for the Australian veteran, who was born in Adelaide and played high school ball in Canberra. The 38-year-old was a member of the now-defunct South Dragons in Melbourne from 2006-09 before going undrafted in ’09. Ingles spent the next several years competing in Spain and Israel, then eventually made the move to the NBA in 2014.
The 6’8″ forward has been stateside for the past 12 seasons, but after playing big minutes in Utah earlier in his career, he has essentially just been a locker room leader for the last couple years in Minnesota. Since joining the Timberwolves in the summer of 2024, Ingles only made 46 regular season appearances and played 267 total minutes (5.8 per game), primarily in garbage time.
ESPN’s Olgun Uluc reported at the start of April that Ingles was interested in continuing his career with another Melbourne-based team, with the South East Melbourne Phoenix being the other National Basketball League club located in the city. Uluc reported at the end of last month that Ingles would be signing with the United.
“Coming home to Melbourne feels incredibly special,” Ingles said in a statement. “To return to where my professional career began almost 20 years ago is something I don’t take for granted. So much has happened since then, but Melbourne has always felt like home.
“… From a basketball perspective, this opportunity really excited me. I still love competing, I still love the game, and I believe I can genuinely help this group win.”
Ingles has represented Australia for many years on the international stage, playing in four FIBA World Cups and five Olympics. He helped the Boomers win their first ever Olympic medal (bronze) at the 2020 games in Tokyo.
In 750 regular season games (23.5 minutes per contest) with the Jazz, Bucks, Magic and Wolves, Ingles averaged 7.7 points, 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 40.9% from three-point range. He was a solid defender and play-maker in his prime on top of being an excellent three-point shooter.
Joe Ingles Plans To Join Melbourne United Next Season
Timberwolves wing Joe Ingles is still in the NBA playoffs but he’s already made plans to play in his native Australia in 2026/27. Ingles is expected to finish his career there by signing with Melbourne United for the next National Basketball League (NBL) season, multiple sources told ESPN’s Olgun Uluc.
Ingles is currently playing on a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal with Minnesota, so he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Uluc reported earlier this month that Ingles was aiming to return to Australia and was drawing interest from both Melbourne-based teams — United and the South East Melbourne Phoenix. The Adelaide 36ers were also among his suitors. Ingles began his professional career in the NBL with the now-defunct South Dragons in 2006.
Ingles has represented his country for many years on the international stage, suiting up for the Australian Boomers in five Olympics, including Paris in 2024.
He will be 39 by the time the 2026/27 NBL season begins but with his NBA experience, elite three-point shooting, positional size, and ability as a creator, he could still have an impact in the Australian league.
Ingles has been at the end of the Timberwolves’ bench for the last two seasons, appearing in 19 games in 2024/25 and 27 in ’25/26. He never played more than nine minutes in his first 25 appearances this season before an April 8 stint against Orlando in which he contributed seven points, four rebounds and four assists. He got a chance to play 32 minutes against New Orleans in the regular season finale and racked up 15 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.
Ingles made a cameo in Minnesota’s Game 3 victory over Denver on Thursday that gave the Timberwolves a 2-1 in the first-round series.
In 750 career regular-season contests, Ingles has averaged 7.7 points, 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 23.5 minutes. He’s a career 40.9 percent three-point shooter who had his best seasons with Utah during his first eight years in the league.
Joe Ingles Has Interest In Returning To Australia’s NBL
Veteran forward Joe Ingles is interested in the idea of returning to his home country to play in Australia’s National Basketball League, Olgun Uluc of ESPN reports within his NBL free agency primer.
Ingles, 38, was a member of the South Dragons in Melbourne from 2006-09 before going undrafted in ’09. He spent the next several years competing in Spain and Israel, then eventually made the move to the NBA in 2014.
The 6’8″ forward has been stateside for the past 12 seasons, but after playing big minutes in Utah earlier in his career, he has essentially just been a locker room leader for the last couple years in Minnesota. Since joining the Timberwolves in the summer of 2024, Ingles has made 44 regular season appearances and played 216 total minutes (4.9 per game), primarily in garbage time.
The South Dragons no longer exist, but if Ingles were to return to Australia, he could end up playing in Melbourne once again, according to Uluc, who says the Timberwolves forward has already spoken with both Melbourne United and the South East Melbourne Phoenix. The Adelaide 36ers also reportedly have interest in Ingles and appear to be his most “proactive” suitor so far, Uluc adds.
Ingles is on a one-year, minimum-salary contract in Minnesota, so he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Injury Notes: Sochan, George, Demin, Suggs, K. Jones, Ingles
The Spurs will be without forward Jeremy Sochan when they open their regular season in Dallas next Wednesday night, according to the team (Twitter link via Jared Weiss of The Athletic).
Ramping up this fall from a calf injury he sustained during the summer, Sochan had progressed to 5-on-5 scrimmages this week and was trending toward potentially being available for opening night. However, the Spurs say that he sprained his left wrist in practice on Thursday. He’ll enter the regular season considered day-to-day, per the club.
Sochan is one of 15 players who remain eligible to sign rookie scale extensions. If he and the Spurs don’t agree to terms on or before Monday, he’ll be on track to play out his contract year and become eligible for restricted free agency next summer.
We have more injury updates from around the NBA:
- After progressing to 3-on-3 work on Wednesday, Sixers forward Paul George took another step forward on Thursday, fully participating in practice, including 5-on-5 action, tweets Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports. However, head coach Nick Nurse quickly replied “no” when asked if there’s optimism about George suiting up for Friday’s preseason finale or next Wednesday’s regular season opener (Twitter video link). “Yesterday was his first day live,” Nurse said. “… Today was a short amount of 5-on-5, so we have to just keep waiting.”
- No. 8 overall pick Egor Demin will make his preseason debut for the Nets on Friday vs. Toronto, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Demin has been dealing with a plantar fascia tear during training camp and the preseason, but it appears he’ll be ready for the start of the season unless he experiences a setback before then.
- Magic guard Jalen Suggs responded well to the limited contact work he did this week, but there are still hurdles to clear before he’s cleared for game action, head coach Jamahl Mosley said on Thursday. “We’ll have a couple more scrimmages where we’ll be able to go live, some 3-on-3, some 5-on-5, and we’ll see how he responds after each one of those days,” Mosley said, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). “Then we’ll be able to tell you accordingly, you’ll know whether he is or isn’t [ready] on opening night.”
- After announcing last week that rookie guard Kam Jones could miss multiple weeks due to a back issue, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle provided an update on Thursday, telling Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link) to check back in on Jones around November 9. That’s the same date that T.J. McConnell (hamstring) is scheduled to be reevaluated.
- Timberwolves forward Joe Ingles, diagnosed last week with a left groin strain, has been cleared for basketball activities and will be available for Thursday’s game against Chicago, the team announced today in a press release.
Timberwolves Notes: Ingles, Hyland, Shannon, Gershon, Barton
Timberwolves forward Joe Ingles suffered a left groin strain and will be reevaluated in one week, the franchise announced in a release.
The Wolves don’t open the regular season until October 22, so it’s entirely possible Ingles won’t miss any regular season time due to the injury. Even if he does, it shouldn’t impact Minnesota’s rotation — the veteran appeared in just 19 games last season for the Wolves, making one start and logging 114 total minutes.
Ingles, 38, re-signed with the Timberwolves this offseason and is gearing up for his second year in Minneapolis. He has appeared in 723 career games, averaging 7.9 points per contest.
We have more from the Timberwolves:
- Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly was with the Nuggets when they selected Bones Hyland with the 26th overall pick in the 2021 draft. Now leading the Wolves’ front office, Connelly oversaw Minnesota adding Hyland on a two-way deal late last season and then re-signing him to a standard contract last month. Chris Hine of The Star Tribune takes a deeper dive into the relationship between the two, exploring the kind of role Hyland could be in store for this year. “We just had a different connection, a real close connection,” Hyland said. “Just that belief he has in me. He’s always had my back. That’s a guy I’m really appreciative of. Every time I see Tim, it’s always a big hug. I’m very thankful for him just believing in me.”
- With Nickeil Alexander-Walker having left Minnesota for the Hawks this offseason, 2024 first-rounder Terrence Shannon Jr. is in line for a larger role on the contending Timberwolves. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic takes a deep dive into what’s in store this season for Shannon, who will join Rob Dillingham and Jaylen Clark as young players aiming for bigger roles.
- Minnesota’s G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, has named Josh Gershon its general manager, per a press release. Gershon has previously served as the Timberwolves’ college scouting coordinator, as well as the Iowa Wolves’ assistant GM.
- Iowa also announced several other front office and coaching additions, including that of 11-year NBA veteran Will Barton as an assistant coach. Barton spent several years playing for the Nuggets during Connelly’s time in Denver.
Joe Ingles Re-Signs With Timberwolves
July 7: Ingles’ new deal with the Bucks is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
June 30: Joe Ingles will return to the Timberwolves on a one-year, $3.6MM contract, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal was confirmed by agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports.
It will be the 12th NBA season for Ingles, who saw limited playing time during his first year in Minnesota but was an inspirational figure in the locker room. The contract will be a veteran’s minimum deal and is projected to count for roughly $2.3MM against the cap.
Ingles, who’ll turn 38 in October, came to Minnesota as a free agent last summer. He only appeared in 19 games, averaging 0.8 points and 0.6 rebounds in 6.0 minutes per night. His lone start of the season was a heartwarming story, as coach Chris Finch inserted him into the starting lineup for a game in March because Ingles’ eight-year-old autistic son was able to attend.
Ingles, who has also been a member of the Australian national team since 2008, made his NBA debut with Utah in 2014 after nearly a decade of playing overseas. He spent eight seasons with the Jazz before moving on to Milwaukee in 2022 and Orlando in 2023.
Northwest Notes: Avdija, Walker, Nuggets, Jokic, Ingles
Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija is enjoying the best scoring stretch of his career, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Avdija posted a season-high 36 points in Friday’s win over Denver, bringing him to 162 over the last six games. He was a productive scorer during his first four NBA seasons in Washington, but he has raised his game since being traded to Portland last summer.
“I don’t think I’ve played like this before,” he said. “I think I knew I had it in me. But I’m not really thinking about it. I’m just playing. I’m just free. I love playing around the guys. I love making plays. I love being on the court with our team, regardless of how I score or how much I score.”
Avdija is among the reasons Portland has become a surprise contender for the final play-in spot in the West. Not only is he scoring at a career-best rate of 15.9 PPG, he’s also pushing the ball up-court and setting up teammates, averaging 5.7 assists during those same six games.
“His play-making is getting better,” coach Chauncey Billups said. “He actually cares about play-making. He’s learning and learning and learning about his guys. They’re learning him.”
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Jabari Walker, who missed the past four games while in concussion protocol, is listed as questionable for the Trail Blazers‘ meeting with Boston on Sunday, tweets Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report. Anfernee Simons and Donovan Clingan, who sat out Friday’s game due to illness, are also questionable.
- The defensive issues that have been plaguing the Nuggets were on display again Friday at Portland, observes Troy Renck of The Denver Post. They surrendered 128 points to a Blazers team that was missing its leading scorer and fell to 8-8 since the All-Star break. Renck adds that losing Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the last two offseasons has left coach Michael Malone with no answers for certain matchup problems.
- Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will miss his fourth straight game Sunday in Houston with a left ankle impingement, according to Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Post (Twitter link). Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun are all probable.
- Joe Ingles hasn’t played much this season, but Timberwolves coach Chris Finch put him in the starting lineup on Friday so his eight-year-old autistic son could watch him play, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Jacob Ingles was recently able to sit through his first game without sensory overload, and Finch wanted to do something to honor the family. “This is the stuff,” Ingles said, “I’ll remember forever.”
Timberwolves Notes: Dillingham, Clark, Finch, Alexander-Walker, Ingles
A trio of little-used players helped the Timberwolves pick up a win Thursday night at Utah, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. With three members of the rotation unavailable, Rob Dillingham, Jaylen Clark and Luka Garza stepped in to fill the void. Dillingham, a lottery pick last summer, turned in one of the best games of his career with 19 points and eight assists while shooting 8-of-11 from the field.
“There was really no figuring it out,” he said of the team’s changing lineups. “We work out every day together. We get ready to play together. Them guys put in the work, even though they don’t get to show it all the time. They put in the work.”
Clark, a two-way guard who was appearing in just his sixth game, saw significant minutes off the bench for the second straight night. He was selected with the 53rd pick in the 2023 draft, but missed all of last season due to a ruptured Achilles. He won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors at UCLA, and the Wolves believe he could have a future as a defensive specialist.
“He’s got a maturity that we could use,” coach Chris Finch said. “Just felt like he deserved a chance. Been thinking that way for a little while, and Wednesday [against Phoenix] was certainly an opportunity to do it.”
There’s more on the Timberwolves:
- Finch received the first ejection of his coaching career on Wednesday and Anthony Edwards had to separate him from referee C.J. Washington before he left the court, Hine adds in a separate story. His players said Finch was in a confrontational mood all day after Monday’s lethargic effort against a short-handed Atlanta team. “I think he went to sleep last night with violence on his mind, and you know how you go to sleep with something on your mind and you’re hoping when you wake up — I don’t think his sleep was good enough,” Edwards said. “The way he did us in film today, particularly me, it was a tough day for us.”
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker was able to play 25 minutes on Wednesday, even though he had to be helped off the court Monday after suffering a lower leg contusion. With Donte DiVincenzo already sidelined, Alexander-Walker knew he had to be ready, notes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “Everything I’ve been through in my career, playing, not playing, every time I can play I don’t want to miss that,” he said.
- Joe Ingles, who signed with Minnesota as a free agent last summer, remains a popular figure in Utah, where he played the first eight seasons of his career, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. With Thursday’s game well out of hand, fans chanted for Ingles to be inserted, which he was for the final 3:51. The 37-year-old forward has made 10 brief appearances this season and has yet to score.
Wolves Notes: Financial Future, Dillingham, Ingles, Gobert
There’s been unprecedented offseason excitement surrounding the Timberwolves after they reached the Western Conference Finals, but their time as title contenders could be limited, writes Jon Krawczynski of the Athletic. While ticket sales and sponsorships have reached an all-time high, there are financial realities on the horizon that threaten the team’s future.
Minnesota already has an expensive roster with Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Anthony Edwards playing on max contracts, and Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Mike Conley all have lucrative deals as well. The Wolves are one of four teams operating above the second apron, which imposes significant financial penalties and severely restricts their ability to make roster moves.
Krawczynski points out that wealthier rivals like the Warriors and Clippers made roster decisions this summer to ease their financial burdens, even if those choices meant sacrificing talent. Both those teams have stable ownership situations, unlike the Wolves, who are the subject of a battle between Glen Taylor and the Marc Lore/Alex Rodriguez group that won’t be decided until after a November arbitration hearing.
Krawczynski also notes that Minnesota has rarely been a taxpaying team since Taylor took over as owner. He speculates that anything short of a championship season could result in a roster upheaval, speculating that rival teams already have their eyes on a potential breakup. Towns has long been involved in trade rumors, while Gobert is eligible for an extension with just one guaranteed year (plus a player option) left on his current deal, Reid holds a player option for the 2025/26 season, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker will be seeking a raise next offseason following the final year of his current contract.
There’s more from Minnesota, all from Krawczynski:
- The Wolves didn’t seek a veteran guard to back up Conley this summer because they have confidence in first-round picks Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon. They lost Kyle Anderson, Jordan McLaughlin and Monte Morris from last year’s roster, and Dillingham is the team’s only true point guard behind Conley. At Kentucky, Dillingham displayed a quick first step to get past defenders, and Krawczynski states that general manager Tim Connelly believes the young guard can create opportunities for his teammates.
- Minnesota hopes Joe Ingles will replace the play-making from the wing it lost when Anderson left, Krawczynski adds. Ingles, who signed as a free agent, also provides much better shooting, although he’ll turn 37 in October.
- Krawczynski notes that Gobert responded to offseason criticism last year by becoming a better fit in the Wolves’ offense and winning Defensive Player of the Year honors for the fourth time. The French big man may feel like he has something to prove again after his embarrassing lack of playing time during the Summer Olympics.