Joe Ingles is a star!

The NBA can’t get enough of Joe Ingles. The great people over at Yahoo Sports are doing what they can to get Ingles into the skills challenge and I couldn’t be more here for it.

We promise this was not written by and SLC Dunk staffer, but we REALLY wish it was!

I also highly recommend calling that number, it makes the day much better.

To be honest, Ingles would much rather be at home with his wife and kids and enjoy the days off, and it might be better for him and the Jazz if he gets the rest, but it sure would be fun to see Ingles at the All Star game in some capacity.

Jonathan Tjarks of the Ringer wrote about Joe Ingles and why he is the key to Utah’s turnaround.

It’s a great read and really captures why Ingles is so important to the Jazz.

I like this section that talked about Ingles’ versatility.

Ingles can attack the defense in a number of different ways. He gets 31.1 percent of his offensive possessions this season as the ball handler in the pick-and-roll, but he’s just as comfortable spotting up off the ball. Utah uses him more like JJ Redick when the other starters are healthy, creating space for him to shoot by putting him in dribble handoffs (14.1 percent of his possessions) and running him around screens off the ball (11.6 percent). His spacing allows those lineups to function. The Jazz are one of the last teams in the NBA that starts two traditional big men (Gobert and Derrick Favors), and neither Rubio nor Mitchell is an elite shooter.

Ingles is just as important to their defense. He defends the toughest wing scorer on the opposing team. Favors and Gobert prefer to stay closer to the basket, while neither Rubio (6-foot-4) nor Mitchell (6-foot-3) can bother the shots of bigger perimeter players. Ingles’s five most frequent assignments this season are Luka Doncic, Buddy Hield, Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, and Paul George. Ingles makes up for his lack of quickness by using his strength to position himself perfectly and funnel his man into all of the length and athleticism around him. The Jazz’s defensive rating goes from 99.4 in 1,490 minutes with him to 105.6 in 814 minutes without him. His high marks on that end aren’t just a product of playing with Gobert, either. The Jazz have a defensive rating of 96.0 in 435 minutes with Ingles and without Gobert.

Whatever happens with this upcoming trade deadline, it’s clear that Ingles should stay put in Utah no matter what.

Jazz fans mention Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert as the obvious core pieces of this team. But, in the end, Ingles might be just as valuable.

Speaking of Donovan Mitchell.

If you haven’t noticed, he’s on a tear. Although, with every game that goes by, it’s starting to look like this will be the norm, or at least something close to it.

The sky is the limit for the Utah Jazz phenom and the Jazz have to do everything they can to build around his strengths.

How can the Jazz do that? Well, it looks like an opportunity is presenting itself.

Personally, I love the idea of adding a blue chipper like Mike Conley to play off of Donovan Mitchell as the secondary ball handler.

Conley is a gritty defender who would bring an offensive game with almost no weakness. His savvy and talent could do wonders for the Jazz offense that has been stuck around 20th in the league all season while also keeping the defensive rating solid.

The Jazz released injury updates on Dante Exum, Thabo Sefolosha and Raul Neto.

It’s looking like the Jazz will have another week of full-time Donovan Mitchell as the primary ball handler. Considering how well things have gone, that’s probably for the best.

With the trade deadline coming up, it might be a great thing to get a little more data, but all signs are pointing to Donovan Mitchell being an absolute star for the Jazz for years to come.