The Oklahoma City Thunder may have struggled to knock down 3-point shots consistently during the postseason, but the team boasted a few talented regular-season shooters.
Alongside Lu Dort, who connected on 41.2% from beyond the arc on 5.8 attempts per game while earning First-Team All-Defense honors, Isaiah Joe had another impressive year from deep.
In his third year with the Thunder, Joe averaged a career-high 10.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 44% from the field and 41.2% from 3-point range on 6.3 attempts per game. Joe's raw numbers aren't the only indication of his talent as a shooter, though, as an advanced statistic recently revealed that Joe is one of the NBA's more respected perimeter scorers.
Todd Whitehead of Sportradar shared a graphic on social media depicting players "who drew the fastest closeout speeds from opposing defenders last season."
The Thunder's sharpshooter ranked No. 8 in the league this year, coming in behind Sam Hauser, Steph Curry, Malik Beasley, Buddy Hield, Duncan Robinson, Luke Kennard and Jordan Poole.
Shooters who drew the fastest closeout speeds from opposing defenders last season. pic.twitter.com/UgEOuFbaBd
— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) August 4, 2025
According to the graphic, Joe drew defenders to his shot at 1.8 feet per second, less than one foot per second less than Hauser, whose mark was 2.5 last year.
Joe was one of the Thunder's primary options off the bench during the 2024-25 regular season, ranking No. 8 on the team with 21.7 minutes per game. The 6-foot-5 guard played 74 games and made 16 starts, serving as a valuable regular season player for a team that won 68 contests and set multiple NBA records along the way.
During the postseason, though, Joe was largely phased out of Mark Daigneault's gameplan as the team turned to Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins more often than Joe off the bench. Joe played 10 minutes per game during the playoffs, a significant decrease from the regular season.
Joe shot 41.1% from 3-point range during the postseason, but wasn't a strong enough defender to stay on the court. Even if the 26-year-old isn't able to make more of an impact during OKC's next playoff run, Joe is still a valuable regular season player on a team that will likely rest Caruso for stretches of the upcoming campaign, similar to the Thunder's 2024-25 strategy.
The former Philadelphia 76ers wing signed an extension with Oklahoma City after the 2023-24 season, and has one more year under contract before Sam Presti and company have a team option on Joe's deal.
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