How Isaiah Joe Complements OKC Thunder’s Stars Perfectly

Isaiah Joe has been the most underrated pickup for Oklahoma City during this new iteration of the Thunder franchise. He joined the team during the 2022-23 season after he was cut by Philadelphia, and has become indispensable.

It was one thing when Joe was doing this on a Thunder team in desperate need of scoring — a team that wasn’t one of the NBA’s best. But he has maintained his role of a microwave scorer and a complete sharp shooter as Oklahoma City has elevated to the status of an elite team. He played in 21 games across the Thunder’s NBA Finals run and canned 41.1% of his 3-point attempts. He filled a crucial role for OKC on a team that hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Joe had a career-year across the board and settled into his higher volume bench role comfortably in Oklahoma City. The Thunder have no real flaws, but they aren’t a crazy high-volume outside shooting teams like champions of past years — namely the Warriors and Celtics. Outside shooting isn’t what makes this Thunder team great, but every great team needs a specialty shooter. Even though Joe does much more than just shoot triples, he’s certainly Oklahoma City’s specialty shooter.

Headed into a year of title defense, Joe will fill the same crucial role on the Thunder. He has room to improve, and the supporting cast to help him reach his full potential.

“Always continuously working on my shot, trying to create more space out there on the floor,” Joe said. “I think my game complements our main guys quite well that like to get downhill and like to play through space. Always working on my defense, my size, my IQ, things like that.

“Keeping it simple, doing what I've been doing but just trying to turn it up a notch. And any winning play that I can make I try to make it. This organization, the team that we have, they make it easy. So all we have to do is focus on ourselves and go out there and do whatever we can to win games.”

Joe is right — his game perfectly complements this Thunder core. The team’s stars — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams — are terrific drivers and look to dish once the defense collapses. Both players have significantly improved in the playmaking department, and Joe benefits from the kick-outs.

The team’s bigs, Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, also mesh very well with shooters that play on the move. Oklahoma City consistently puts Joe in dribble hand-off action, and it works out in favor of the offense. Joe’s ability to rise and fire or drive off the hand-off is huge. He’s also comfortable in the midrange, and a player like Hartenstein who sets hard screens gives him time to get to his spots and get shots off.

It's a big season for Joe, who has continued to rise to the occasion in Oklahoma City. This year should be no different.