I never thought I’d be writing an article on Isaiah Joe, but here we are. He went from being a player I thought would be out of the league to one of the best three point shooters in the NBA.
Welcome to my first edition of Small-Stars. In this series, I’m going to highlight players that have been hooping, but don’t get any recognition from the national media.
Isaiah Joe is a 6’4, 23 y/o out of Arkansas. He was overlooked by many NBA scouts and fell to the 49th pick in the 2020 NBA draft. Most of these scouts looked over him for the right reasons, though. In his second and final season at Arkansas, Joe only shot 34% from deep and scouts were struggling to figure out what role he may have on their team. Three years later, many execs would love to have him on their team because of his potent three point shooting.
Let’s talk about his shooting. Isaiah Joe is currently shooting an astounding 46% from deep this season. That number puts him in the 100th percentile for combo guards and crowns him as the best three point shooter for his position. Furthermore, he’s shooting an elite 51% on his corner threes.
Now, you think you would be hearing about a guy with these shooting clips. You’re probably thinking, “this dude can’t be attempting many threes per game. These numbers must be skewed because of limited play time.” While you wouldn’t be completely wrong in thinking that, Joe’s minutes have increased since the start of the season and we see him giving the Thunder a solid 19 mpg since the beginning of December. His minutes have increased because it is impossible to not see his ability to knock-down the three-ball. Having creators like SGA and Giddey on the team makes it even more important to have a sniper like Isaiah Joe around them. SGA and Giddey are great at creating open looks, and Joe normally does a great job at fulfilling his end of the bargain from beyond the arc. Almost all of his threes are catch-and-shoot because of Giddey and SGA’s creation.
He’s also been proving himself to be an above average defender. When he’s on the court, teams average -4.2 pts/100 poss–putting him in the 85th percentile. Teams also tend to have a lower 3pt% when he’s out on the court. While Joe may not be getting the toughest matchups on a nightly basis, he’s proven that he’s not a defensive liability. I know the term 3&D gets thrown around a lot, but will Isaiah Joe be the next member inducted into this club?
Do y’all remember where Isaiah Joe was before OKC? Because I didn’t until I looked it up. He was drafted by Philly and played there for two years, but only saw about ten minutes per game because he didn’t prove to be the knock-down shooter he currently is. With his play now, you’d think he’d seamlessly fit around Embiid and Harden because of the open looks they generate for teammates. Alas, the 76ers gave-up on him and the Thunder found them a diamond in the rough.
Isaiah Joe is proving that he’s going to have a long NBA career. As long as you can shoot, there’s going to be a team that wants you. Teams are always looking to add more shooting. His ability to be at least a competent defender has also allowed him to not be played off the floor like Duncan Robinson. The Thunder are a team that really lacks shooting and defense, so I could see him being a resident in Oklahoma City for a long time.
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