Report: Nickeil Alexander-Walker to Jazz, Joe Ingles to Blazers in 3-Team Trade

The Portland Trail Blazers continued to shake up their roster, acquiring Joe Ingles as part of a three-team trade with the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski:

The Jazz will receive Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who was sent to Portland from the New Orleans Pelicans as part of Tuesday's trade for CJ McCollum. Tomas Satoransky was also part of the deal but is now headed to the Spurs.

Ingles is the most established player in the trade, although he suffered a torn ACL in January and will not play the rest of the season.

He was playing on an expiring contract before the injury, which makes his long-term future more uncertain. Teams were surely intrigued by the expiring contract status when he was healthy since they wouldn't have to worry about keeping him on the books past the rest of the campaign and could look toward either a potential rebuild or signing other players.

When he does return to the floor, this will certainly be a change for Ingles considering he spent his entire career with the Jazz and fit well into their system as someone who could start or provide a spark off the bench.

He turned in one of the best seasons of his career in 2020-21, when he averaged 12.1 points, 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 0.7 steals per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 45.1 percent from three-point range.

Ingles' versatility was a major reason Utah finished with the NBA's best record last season at 52-20. He can facilitate as a ball-handler, work in pick-and-rolls, shoot from the outside on the wing when playing off the ball and defend multiple positions if asked.

The wing will now have an opportunity to return to the Jazz in the offseason, stay with Portland or sign with any other team.

Utah, meanwhile, will add a useful role player in Alexander-Walker. The 23-year-old averaged 12.8 points and 2.8 assists per game in 50 appearances for the Pelicans this year and will give the Jazz even more scoring depth. He could pair with Jordan Clarkson on the second unit as the team tries to make a deep run in the postseason.

Juancho Hernangomez was only averaging 1.1 points per game during stops with the Boston Celtics and Spurs this year, but his 7.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in limited playing time last year for the Minnesota Timberwolves show he could help if given the chance.

From the Spurs' and Trail Blazers' perspective, this deal helps provide assets for the future while adding salary-cap flexibility going forward.