Bogut: Joe Ingles can play in the NBA again, but recovering from a season-ending knee injury at 34 will pose many challenges

Out for the season and out of contract, Joe Ingles faces an uncertain basketball future. It won’t be easy, but Andrew Bogut believes he can make it back to the NBA.

I have no doubts Joe Ingles can return to the NBA despite suffering his season-ending knee injury, but at 34-years-old it becomes even harder mentally.

I can speak from experience, because I felt the same way when I left the NBA in 2018 all banged up and hobbling out of the league.

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It just sucks when you are at the end of your career, you cop an injury or injuries, and it creates so much uncertainty.

I was fortunate to get that second chance to go back to the Golden State Warriors after a year in the NBL with the Sydney Kings.

Can Joe Ingles recover from a serious knee injury and make it back to the NBA?

I had the opportunity to leave that final season in the NBA in 2019 as a championship runner up uninjured, and more importantly on my own terms.

I made the decision, not an injury or tap on the shoulder.

For Joey right now, it’s not ideal at 34 to go into free agency off of a fresh ACL injury, that is for sure.

I’m not going to put words in Joey’s mouth, but there is a lot for him to think about moving forward.

He has a family, the kids are active, and they will be looking to at school and all the other fun things us parents think about when it comes to our children. I am very intrigued and interested to see what his next step is.

He could be one of those guys that rehabs and returns to the NBA, play a season, then leave on his own terms. From a mental point of view, it is to be able to say that “I did it” and the injury didn’t.

I totally get that.

Then there is the other side where he says I’ve had a decent NBA career and I want to settle down and get the kids back to some normality without moving around all the time, which could bring him home to Australia.

Whether he plays on or retires, who knows, but there are countless questions and only Joey would know the answers.

I have reached out to him, and he is in good spirits. He has never had an injury which will keep him out of the game for an extended period, so this is foreign ground to navigate.

There are many factors at play and a veteran minimum deal in the NBA is his most realistic shot at returning to the NBA at this point. I think before the injury he would have found a deal similar to Patty Mills, maybe a 2-year 10 million somewhere to help a team win a championship.

Andrew Bogut and Joe Ingles have built a close bond from their time together in the Australian Boomers squad. Picture: Getty Images.

More than likely, he won’t be back until January or February next year, which is a full timeline for an ACL injury.

The dark horse in all of this is the Utah Jazz. I think if the Jazz offered Joe a vet minimum contract, he could take it at this point.

He is loved in Utah; he loves it there and I think with his young family that would definitely be something that he would look at to stay in the NBA.

Joey is a huge part of the Jazz team, not so much numbers wise, but he is just an intangibles guy who can do so many good things for them.

Another NBA team coming in with a veteran minimum deal, I put that in the unlikely box, because it means Joe will have to uproot and move his family again.

So, if the Jazz don’t offer a vet minimum deal, does that mean he moves back to Australia to settle and start the second part of his life?

Joe Ingles and Andrew Bogut together in Melbourne.

I don’t know the answers to those questions, but they are valid.

I think Joey can still play in the NBA. This season he hasn’t been shooting it as well as he normally does, and he is still at 36 per cent, which is still above average in the NBA.

Joey’s career average is circa 40 per cent in the league – teams would take that on a veteran minimum deal every day of the week.

It is just a matter of Joey wanting to do it or does he want to settle down?

Joey is one of those guys, and I’ve spoken to people about this, a guy you would worry about athleticism wise post his injury.

I don’t think the worry is that he’ll lose a step because no offence to Joey, but he was never the quickest guy to begin with, so that actually helps him in this conversation coming off a knee.

It wasn’t like Joey was doing windmill dunks before.

Instead, he is smart enough to play at his own speed and that is why I think that the ACL, even though it is a long rehab, it won’t be a drastic loss of athleticism for Joey or severely affect his style of play.

Aron Baynes and Andrew Bogut were teammates on the Boomers. Picture: AAP

Baynes’ long road back

I think Aron can get back to the NBA, but it is going to be tough.

I don’t want to doubt his drive – he is a very driven individual and stubborn when he has his mindset on something.

I most importantly hope that Aron doesn’t have any underlying issues from his spine and neck injuries for the rest of his life.

Put basketball aside. He has a young family, and hopefully he can play with the kids pain-free without any restrictions.

I think it will be tough for Aron to get back to the NBA because of his age at 35.

You can’t buy his size and shooting, especially the three-ball, and teams love that from a big boy.

Maybe he can pick up a veteran minimum deal? But I think he might need to have a year in the NBL to show that he is in shape before that happens.

Aron Baynes remains hopeful of returning to the NBA despite suffering a host of serious injuries at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images.

I just don’t see an NBA team giving him a guaranteed deal off that kind of an injury, and I’m speaking from experience when I broke my leg playing in my first game with Cleveland in 2017.

A non-guaranteed deal was the best offer I had on the table from the Lakers, and I think that will be Aron’s best bet as well.

Perhaps he gets a camp invite, or a non-guaranteed deal?

If he can get back to the NBA following this injury, it will be as big as his championship with the Spurs in 2014 in my opinion because that is a tough route back.

If the NBA doesn’t eventuate and he stays in Australia, my money is on the Brisbane Bullets signing Aron.

It’s the Bullets’ signing to lose in my opinion.