Evaluating Isaiah Joe’s Historic Shooting To Start 2022-23 Season

Following his final game of the preseason, Isaiah Joe was waived by the Philadelphia 76ers. As much upside as he had as a shooter, the Sixers had a roster crunch and were forced to make this tough decision.

A former second-round pick, Joe had the unique opportunity of joining a new team where there would be more of a chance to earn minutes. Philadelphia was looking to contend for a championship, meaning young players had a hard time finding minutes as veterans took priority.

As such, the Thunder jumped on the opportunity and signed Joe to a multi-year deal worth roughly $5.99 million over three years, including around $1.83 million guaranteed.

Not only has he gotten much more opportunity in Oklahoma City, but to this point in the 2022-23 campaign Joe has put together one of the franchise’s best individual 3-point shooting seasons.

The 6-foot-5 guard has proven to be one of the most underrated signings of the entire offseason. He’s now one of the more high value contracts on the team, and has emerged as a potential long-term piece of the rebuilding core.

Through the first third of the season, Joe has averaged 6.8 points per game on fantastic efficiency. Most notably, he’s knocked down 46.1% of his 3-point attempts and has shot nearly 86% from the free throw line. In several games this season, Joe has been a spark plug that legitimately led the Thunder to wins.

In just 24 games, he’s made 41 shots from beyond the arc. He made 45 and 39 respectively in the two seasons prior, meaning he’s already nearing a career-high in makes early in the season.

These 31 made 3-pointers is second on the Thunder behind only Lu Dort, who’s taken 69 more attempts than Joe.

The former Arkansas Razorback has converted on only 11 shots inside the arc this season, as he does most of his damage from deep. He’s seventh in the league in 3-point frequency (82.4%) and second in average shot distance.

Among players that take at least 3.5 shots from beyond the arc per game, Joe is fifth in the league in efficiency. Thus far, 97.6% of his triples have been assisted on, making him the perfect off-ball guard that can help space the floor for his teammates.

With that in mind, Joe isn’t just catch-and-shoot guy. He’s had his fair share of more advanced 3-point shots, using a variety of step backs, pump fakes and side-step moves.

There’s a real connection between Joe and the Thunder’s face of the franchise in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Of his 41 made shots from deep, 11 have been assisted on by Gilgeous-Alexander. With how much gravity he demands, it’s been a staple of the Thunder offensive for SGA to find Joe open on the perimeter.

While Joe is making roughly $1.8 million this season, ProFitX models project that his on-court performance is worth upwards of $4.7 million. This means he’s already outperforming the deal the Thunder signed him to during the offseason.

Moving forward, Joe will look to be the perfect complimentary piece to spark the offense or pose a deep threat late in games. When Oklahoma City is ready to make a push for the playoffs down the road, he’s making a case to be a big part of that effort.

To make things better for the Thunder, he’s on an extremely cheap deal and is only 23 years old.