The Thunder and swingman Isaiah Joe have agreed to terms on a new four-year contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports that the deal will be worth $48M.
Joe has spent the past two seasons in Oklahoma City after being waived by the Sixers in 2022. During that time, he has been one of the Thunder’s most reliable shooters off the bench, averaging 8.8 points per game with a .412 3PT% in 151 outings (11 starts, 18.8 MPG).
The Thunder held an extremely team-friendly option on Joe for the 2024-25 season. However, the club opted to decline that $2.165M option in order to sign the sharpshooter to a longer-term contract.
While Oklahoma City could have exercised the option and then negotiated an extension with Joe, turning down the option – which technically allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent – ensured that he’ll receive a raise in ’24-25 and won’t compromise the Thunder’s offseason cap room. They can keep his minimum-salary cap hold on the books until they’ve used all that room, then go over the cap using his Early Bird rights to officially re-sign him to his new deal.
The maximum amount the Thunder could have given Joe on an Early Bird contract was about $58.2M over four years.
The Thunder took a similar route with another rotation player, Aaron Wiggins, declining his minimum-salary team option for 2024-25, making him a restricted free agent and agreeing to terms with him on a new five-year, $47M deal.
Joe was the No. 23 free agent on our top-50 list.
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