NBA: Wife breaks major Joe Ingles news; Patty Mills makes $21m call

The wife of Aussie NBA star Joe Ingles weighed into the league’s off-season frenzy as Patty Mills also made a major call about his future.

Renae Ingles dropped her very own “Woj bomb”.

Normally ESPN newshound Adrian Wojnarowski is the one breaking the biggest scoops in the NBA but the wife of Aussie basketball star Joe Ingles beat him to it on Friday.

As major moves were being made in an NBA off-season frenzy, Renae posted on Twitter her husband had signed a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.

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BREAKING NEWS:

Sources very close to free agent @Joeingles7 can confirm that he has agreed to a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.

CEO of the house, Renae Ingles, is thrilled for Joe and their family.

Joe himself, is said to be very bucking happy.#nba#nbanewspic.twitter.com/4yra9gQst3

— Renae Ingles (@RenaeIngles) June 30, 2022

Ingles joined the Utah Jazz in 2014 and had spent all eight of his NBA seasons with the franchise, before injuring his ACL and being traded to Portland earlier this year.

However, the Australian great didn’t suit up for the Trail Blazers because of his devastating knee injury and will instead kick off a new chapter alongside NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo at the Bucks.

Renae added a further post on Twitter after breaking the news, writing: “As CEO I am inclined to further comment on Utah, Salt Lake City, The Jazz, and alllll of the things — friends who are family. What a community. I don’t yet have the words to put together. It will come.”

Ingles, who was instrumental in leading the Boomers to their first ever Olympic medal in Tokyo last year, tore his ACL in February. The 34-year-old has been rehabilitating with the intent of continuing his NBA career.

At the time, Renae was devastated by Ingles’ injury and subsequent trade to Portland.

“Appreciate the love & support from near and far. Today is so sad. I don’t have the words to put together just yet,” she wrote on social media.

“Incredibly grateful for the last 8 years here as part of the Jazz family & Utah community. Focus is Joe’s knee & rehab. Deeply saddened, & thankful for you all xxx.”

Meanwhile, Ingles’ fellow Boomer Patty Mills has made a call on his future. On Thursday the Aussie star committed to entering free agency after turning down his $9 million player option with the Brooklyn Nets.

That didn’t mean Mills had ruled out a return to the Nets, just that he was keeping his options open.

On Friday it was confirmed he had re-signed with Brooklyn on a two-year deal worth $21 million, meaning he will have the chance to share the floor with countryman Ben Simmons, who joined the franchise in a blockbuster trade for James Harden earlier this year.

Will we see Patty Mills and Ben Simmons finally team up? (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

It wasn’t all good news for the Nets, though, after the team’s best player Kevin Durant requested a trade despite having four years remaining on a contract extension he signed last year.

It’s an unprecedented move by a player of Durant’s stature with so much time remaining on his deal but initial signs are the Nets won’t stand in his way.

Early contenders named to snap up Durant’s services include Phoenix and Miami, while the Lakers were also touted as a possible destination in a move that would see Durant link up with LeBron James.

Making the situation murkier is Kyrie Irving’s bizarre bluff involving the Nets earlier this week, floating the possibility of leaving before ultimately re-committing to Brooklyn. Whether he still wants to stay without Durant remains to be seen.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said: “We know where KD is with the Nets – that is now over. We don’t 100 per cent know where KD is with Kyrie Irving. The league doesn’t know.

“It has been floated to me by executives, I’m almost loathe to say it, that if they could be kept together, the Lakers would potentially have a package that you could trade for both of them.

“We just don’t know where KD and Kyrie are, if they’re still interested in (playing) together.

“After seeing what happened when they were together, almost no team with options would do it, but the Lakers don’t have options. That’s the only place I’ve heard that is possible.”

The Nets have been rocked this week. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP.