Rookie Isaiah Joe Hopes to Earn Minutes as Sixers Get Healthy
Earning regular-season minutes as a second-round rookie can be an uphill battle. Especially in 2020-2021, when there was no Summer League available for rookies to showcase their talents before joining their teams for training camp.
Sixers rookie Isaiah Joe knew that Philly's front office wanted him before he was drafted out of Arkansas back in November. But at this point, he no longer has to impress the front office. Now, his focus is on showcasing his skills to the coaches.
Although Summer League and a shortened preseason took away opportunities for Joe to impress his coaching staff early on, the unfortunate circumstances of playing hoops during the COVID-19 pandemic gave the 76ers no choice but to utilize young players.
Over the last couple of weeks, Joe earned some regular-season minutes as the Sixers were shorthanded. While the team's record took a bit of a hit, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers had an opportunity to learn about his younger players. And Isaiah Joe's progress through nine games this year raised an important question: Does he stay in the rotation moving forward as the team gets healthier?
Joe sure hopes so.
"I think that time was, you know, it did a good job of giving me that experience under my belt," Joe said on Wednesday ahead of the Boston Celtics matchup. "A lot of people know what I do best, that's shooting the basketball. So, I really felt like I displayed that pretty well."
On six shots-per-game, Joe drained roughly 38-percent of his shots from the field and knocked down nearly 39-percent of his threes. Although he got off to a bit of a slow start, Joe got a lot more efficient over the last four games as he drained 50-percent of his threes and averaged 12 points-per-game off the bench.
But it's not all about shooting for the rookie. While the Arkansas product made a name for himself because of his fearlessness from the beyond-the-arc, Joe also takes pride in being a reliable two-way player.
"I feel like I displayed my defense pretty well, which is an underrated part of my game," Joe explained. "I can play on both ends of the floor -- and I'm continually trying to prove [that], and hopefully that has earned me some minutes in the future."
With Furkan Korkmaz and Seth Curry getting back in the mix, Joe's minutes are likely to take a hit. Considering the Sixers rolled with a ten-man rotation before the injury mishaps occurred, one might think that could push Joe out of the rotation once again.
However, Doc Rivers made it clear last week that there is room in the rotation for anybody playing well. Joe has been solid as of late and looks like he belongs. Now, it's up to Rivers to decide if he feels the same way or not.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
