OKC Thunder Trade Isaiah Joe to Detroit Pistons for Draft Assets

The Oklahoma City Thunder are trading Isaiah Joe to the Detroit Pistons for draft assets in another offseason move.

May 24, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) moves the ball in the fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs during game four of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

The summer of 2026 is a big one for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team is attempting to shuffle its roster ahead of the looming second apron with plenty of questions around what the team will do with defensive ace Lu Dort, starting big man Isaiah Hartenstein and veteran swing man Kenrich Williams. All three have team options that the Thunder must decide on Monday. This comes after the Oklahoma City Thunder walked away with three prospects in the 2026 NBA Draft in Aday Mara (No. 12), Bennett Stirtz (No. 16) and Otega Oweh (No. 41).

To make room for their two first-round picks, and also cut costs, the Oklahoma City Thunder have already traded bench swingman Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks. Concluding a fantastic tenure in OKC that featured a Championship and maximizing the No. 55 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.

On Friday morning, the OKC Thunder made another move. Shipping sharpshooting guard Isaiah Joe to the Detroit Pistons for two future second-round picks.

Just in: The Oklahoma City Thunder are trading sharpshooter Isaiah Joe to the Detroit Pistons for two future second-round picks, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/rHf0VHp7k0

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 26, 2026

This move still has the Oklahoma City Thunder projecting to be 16.5 million dollars over the second apron if they were to accept all three team options. A number that can come down by declining and re-signing the trio to more team-friendly figures, or moving on from one of the team option trio.

Moving on from Joe also opens up two standard roster contracts that the team needed after selecting Mara and Stirtz in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft.

Joe is coming off a career year playing in 71 regular season games to the tune of 11.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 45% from the floor, 42% from beyond the arc and 89% at the charity stripe. While Joe did not have a sparkling postseason, this is still a great get for the Pistons.

Not only can Joe come in and fix the Pistons' regular-season shooting concerns, but this is a great gamble on his future postseason role. Perhaps a more steady stream of minutes will help this role player be more comfortable in high-leverage spots and start to convert his regular-season shooting success into the postseason.

With the Thunder's crowded roster, his inconsistent minutes never let Joe find a groove in the NBA Playoffs which is a likely reason for his drop off on that stage. With Detroit, that shouldn't be an issue and could pay off big for the Eastern Conference contenders.