Early in the Year, Isaiah Joe Appears to Have Taken a Leap for OKC Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are off to another impressive start.

After winning 57 games in 2023-24 and 68 games in 2024-25, the team appears to be in the midst of what could be another impressive campaign. At 14-1, the Thunder have obviously been one of the NBA's best teams this season, but early on, the team struggled on offense.

Even with those struggles, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team through it's inability to hit shots. Recently, though, some of those troubles have subsided, with OKC finding more of a rythm on offense as the year progresses.

The main catalyst for Oklahoma City's struggles on offense early in the year was the absence of All-NBA wing Jalen Williams, who had wrist surgery over the offseason. Williams' still has yet to play this year, but the Thunder's offense got a major boost when another role player returned from injury.

Isaiah Joe missed the team's first five games of the year, but since rejoining the lineup, has provided a shot in the arm for Mark Daigneault's offense.

Prior to Joe's return, OKC struggled to reliably knock down shots from the perimeter, but the sharpshooter's 3-point prowess adds another threat to the Thunder's offense and helps space the floor.

In 10 appearances this year, Joe is averaging a career-high 14.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 43.3% from beyond the arc and 40.5% from 3-point range on more than 8 attempts per game.

Without Joe, Oklahoma City's bench unit struggled to produce points, leaving the team's starters responsible for picking up the slack on offense. The group answered the call, and managed to start the season 5-0, but Joe's return has made things much more smooth for the Thunder's offense.

Aside from Joe's numbers increasing once again, the 26-year-old also has shown his technical improvement on the floor. This season, the 3-point specialist appears to be more comfortable handling the ball, and has had the opportunity to run the team's offense late in games.

Additionally, Joe looks like a better playmaker and defender early in the season, appearing more confident on the floor this year.

If the talented role player is able to continue producing for Oklahoma City, especially when Williams returns from his injury, the Thunder's offense should be in a much better spot than it was last year.

The team struggled to knock down triples during its playoff run, and relied on defense and timely shot making to win the NBA Finals. If Joe can be a meaningful contributor in the playoffs, that problem may not be as pronounced for the Thunder.

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