Australia's Joe Ingles
Australia's Joe Ingles (R) shoots as his teammates Patrick Mills (L) and Mark Worthington (2nd L) and China's Wang Zhizhi watch during their men's Group B preliminary round basketball match at the London 2012 Olympic Games August 2, 2012. Reuters

Thanks to a successful 2014 FIBA World Cup stint, Joe Ingles of Australia is now on his way to the National Basketball Association (NBA) after signing a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers.

In the recent world championships in Spain, Ingles was the Australian basketball national team’s leader in assists (3.4 APG) and steals (1.8 SPG) and third in scoring (11.4 PPG).

Ingles’ consistency with the Boomers in international tournaments most likely made him a desirable target for the Clippers, who led the league in scoring last season (107.9 PPG ) but wanted another back-up shooter in the line-up.

Ingles averaged 10.3 points at the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey and 15.0 points per game at the 2012 Olympics in London.

The 26-year-old guard/forward shot a total of 6-of-9 from behind the arc in the tournament and his size at 6-foot-8 and outside sniping can make him a serviceable player with the Clippers, which features the likes of stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin plus the likes of DeAndre Jordan, Jamaal Crawford and J.J. Redick.

Ingles is not expected to be part of the rotation immediately but with only a one-year deal, the Australian is pressed to show some progress and contribution at some point in the season for him to convince that he belongs in the big league.

Ingles previous stints include playing locally for the South Dragons (2006 to 2009); CB Granada (2009 to 2010) in Spain; FC Barcelona (2010 to 2013) also in Spain; and Maccabi Tel Aviv (2013-2014) in Israel.

With Maccabi, he averaged 6.4 points and 2.9 assists in 22.4 minutes per game and helped the squad to the 2013-2014 Euroleague title.

Australia is already well-represented in the NBA although only a few have major roles with their respective squads.

Playing average-to-good minutes are Andrew Bogut with the Golden State Warriors and Patty Mills of NBA champion team San Antoio Spurs.

Also part of the roster but with minimal appearances are Aron Baynes, who was previously with the Spurs, now a free agent; Dante Exum, the 5th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft with the Utah Jazz; and Brock Motum, who also joined the Jazz in the offseason. Other Aussies in the league are Matthew Dellavedova (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Cameron Bairstow (Chicago Bulls).

Including Joe Ingles, a total of eight Australians will be donning an NBA jersey in the upcoming 2014-2015 NBA season.

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