Why OKC Needs to Trust Isaiah Joe Amid Shooting Struggles

Despite his recent battle with inefficient scoring, Joe should still have the trust of Thunder faithful.

Dec 23, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA;Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) steals the ball away from Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Over the last three weeks, OKC sharpshooter Isaiah Joe has faced a straight-up scoring slump. A known efficient scorer from the perimeter, Joe's recent stretch of performances has been lackluster from outside.

Since Dec. 7 in a win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Joe's posted only one game with more than one made triple. In that time, he's shooting 8-for-37 from the three-point line with his best performance of that stretch being a 3-for-8, nine-point outing against the Dallas Mavericks. That trend continued in the Thunder's most recent game against the Indiana Pacers.

Joe went 2-for-8 from the field and 1-for-7 from the perimeter, finishing with five points. He had multiple open looks that simply did not go in, all in 17 minutes of game time. At this point for Joe, his poor perimeter shooting is a trend.

Plenty of three-point specialists like Joe have faced shooting slumps in their careers. The simple answer to break out of his shooting slump would be to continue shooting. For the play style Joe brings off the OKC bench, continuing to shoot outside shots is really the only realistic option that would continue to earn Joe playing time.

Despite his shooting slump, it's clear head coach Mark Daigneault and the Oklahoma City coaching staff have trust in Joe. Last season, he shot 41.6% from the perimeter all season on 4.5 attempts per game. Everyone knows what Joe can do at his best, which gives no reason to diminish his role. Many Thunder fans and others use Joe's name frequently in trade talks for this trade deadline, but the upside of retaining Joe is worth keeping him.

At his best, Joe is the best and most consistent perimeter shooter on this OKC roster. It seems that if general manager Sam Presti and OKC were to make a trade deadline move, it would be to acquire another shooter. More couldn't hurt but despite his dry stretch as of late, Joe's been exactly that.

OKC's organization and fanbase need to keep its faith in Joe. He's a consistent contributor when he's shooting efficiently and it doesn't seem realistic that his recent 21.6% shooting from three-point land is bound to stay. This is one of, if not the worst shooting stretch of Joe's career. That's not to say he certainly will break out of it, but the odds are in his favor.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SIon Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.