Australian wing player Joe Ingles has agreed to sign a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting.
There is no indication whether Ingles’ deal with the Clippers will be fully guaranteed or not. Also, the complete details of his contract have not been disclosed.
Ingles had a terrific 2014 FIBA World Cup tournament, averaging 11.4 points, 3.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. He shot the ball with magnificent accuracy hitting 69.7 percent of his shots, including 66.7 percent from downtown.
The 26-year old Aussie has spent his entire career overseas. He played for the South Dragons of the Australian league from 2006 to 2009 and has also spent time in Spain. He most recently played a season with Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli league.
Many NBA teams had interest in Ingles after the 2012 Olympics, and he has finally landed an NBA job. The Clippers most recently re-signed Hedo Turkoglu and added Chris Douglas-Roberts to the roster. Ingles will have to battle for minutes against those two, but he could very well earn a large role off the bench due to his outstanding shooting ability.
The Los Angeles Clippers have been extremely active these past couple of weeks as they have upped their roster to 16 players. They are stacked with wing players, and it would be interesting to see how Doc Rivers manages minutes.
As for Joe Ingles, this is an enormous accomplishment for him. He becomes the fifth current Australian player in the league.