Entering their fifth season with genuine championship ambitions behind two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks were teetering on the salary cap tightrope.
Well over the cap and into the luxury tax, the Bucks only had one non-minimum salary slot to utilise during free agency - The taxpayer mid-level exception (worth approximately $6.5 million USD) that could be utilised by signing multiple players.
The Milwaukee front office chose to use the full amount by inking Australian forward, Joe Ingles.
Adding an eight-year veteran possessing elite outside shooting, playmaking for his position and extensive postseason experience would seem like a no-brainer. The only complicating factor was that Ingles was just a few months into rehabbing a repaired ACL and would miss close to half of the regular season. He was also on the verge of turning 35.
Despite those significant questions, Milwaukee GM Jon Horst was confident he'd added a vital piece.
"Joe can really help us in the regular season and deep into the playoffs and can fit with us and maybe have a future with us going forward beyond this year," Horst told The Athletic in July.
"So, we're not going to just rush him on the floor just to get a couple extra regular season games out of him."
While the Bucks were patient, Ingles returned in timely fashion, making his debut on Dec. 19, just 11 months post-surgery.
In just his sixth game, Ingles tallied 14 points and 10 assists, helping the Bucks snap a four-game losing streak in the process. He was also 4-for-7 from long range on the night, in a perfect illustration of the all-round offensive weaponry that Horst envisioned.
"I've never experienced this feeling from this arena. I've been on the opposing side a few times so it's nice to be at home," Ingles said in an on-court interview postgame.
"I've missed this feeling for the last 11 months. I'm very lucky to be a part of an amazing team and organisation. Big thanks to my wife and kids for getting me through the last 11 months because it's been rough. Finally, just to be out here and play basketball with a great group of guys is something I've missed."
While an ACL recovery can be complicated under any circumstances, the road back to the floor was challenging for Ingles, with the 11-month journey taking him all over the US and abroad.
"I started with the Jazz and was rehabbing with the Jazz. Got traded but didn't really leave Utah," he told Bucks media in December.
"I went to Portland a few times to visit and get my knee checked out, so I was with the Portland guys a little bit. Then we went to Australia, took the kids home for the first time in three years with COVID. Went back to Utah, packed up the house, then went to San Diego where we usually base ourselves. That was the first time meeting some of the Bucks guys, then we obviously moved to Milwaukee."
The impact of the crafty lefty has been immense, particularly on offence, for a Milwaukee squad that can have issues in the half court. The shooting has returned in quick time, with his 40.9 percent mark from long range good for second on the team (min 40 games). That number climbs to a sizzling 48.9 percent in 21 games since the All-Star break.
Always an elite pick-and-roll operator, Ingles wasted no time building chemistry with his teammates, in particular Brook Lopez, with the Aussie finding the big man glacially rolling to the basket with regularity.
Of his 150 total assists across 46 appearances this season, Ingles has dished to Lopez on 38 occasions, 10 more than his next target in Bobby Portis, via NBA.com tracking data.
Like all two-man partnerships, there were some early challenges, with the duo taking time to learn the nuances of each other's movements on the fly. Ingles explained that process in a way that only he can.
"I was like, 'I'm either going to keep turning it over or I'm just actually going to throw him the f------ ball.' As basic as that may seem," Ingles told The Athletic in March.
The addition of the Ingles-Lopez connection is significant, with the shot profile of Lopez changing dramatically post All-Star break.
Of the 41 Ingles-to-Lopez passes that have resulted in a basket, 36 of those have been from 2-point range.
Prior to the mid-season extravaganza, the Bucks ranked 22nd in offensive efficiency, scoring 112.7 points per 100 possessions. Since the break, they rank 6th, tallying 118.1 points per 100. Significantly, the spike coincides with the return of three-time All-Star Khris Middleton from injury, though the Ingles addition should not be overlooked.
By the end of the regular season, Ingles totalled 46 appearances, averaging 22.7 minutes per game, forming a bolstered wing rotation that also added veteran Jae Crowder at the trade deadline.
Last season, the Bucks fell in seven games to the Boston Celtics during the Eastern Conference second round. An available Middleton alongside the additions of Ingles and Crowder leaves them better equipped -- on paper at least -- to handle their main conference rival. If results go as expected, the two teams are on a collision course for the Eastern Conference Finals, which would be the fourth postseason series between the Bucks and Celtics in the last six seasons.
Milwaukee enter the postseason with the NBA's best record and for Ingles, there were almost certainly moments where Game 1 of an NBA playoff series felt an unachievable goal.
"I'm old and I'm slow and it was hard. When you've been doing this since you're seventeen years old and then it gets taken from you and you get traded and all these different things happen, you're in a lonely place.
"Credit to (wife) Renae, she's the one who pushed me through this, coming home to my kids every day and a lot of respect for anyone who has gone through serious injuries. I know you guys see a lot of the fun stuff and the nice cars and things, but the things we do behind the scenes are brutal sometimes," he said.
The Bucks and Horst had a vision and to this point, it's going exactly as they planned.