Why Isaiah Joe is the NBA's most underrated role player

Isaiah Joe's movement shooter skillset is at the heart of OKC's unique offensive identity.

There are a lot of reasons that the Oklahoma City Thunder have the best record in the Western Conference. You might not think of Isaiah Joe, a role player who mostly comes off the bench, as one of the biggest.

But as they’ve risen over the past three years, the Thunder have established an off-beat offensive identity. They use an idiosyncratic, free-flowing system that gives them late game answers and forces defenses to answer complicated questions.

The system is built on the staccato brilliance of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Underlying it all is the gravity and court-warping movement of Joe.

Now, I don’t mean to overstate — Joe plays 20 minutes per game and averages nine points. SGA’s co-star running mate, Jalen Williams, just made his first All-Star team. Joe is not running pick and rolls or getting tough buckets in the clutch.

The identity that OKC has established, though, flows from the skillet of Joe. His juice and movement reverberates.

Put simply: Joe is a roving three-point specialist, but with a twist. Movement shooters put stress on defenses by converting difficult three-point shots with regularity. Joe shifts that archetype with his unconventional movement. He messes with the geometry of NBA help defense schemes.

Many movement shooters specialize in scampering around using off-ball pindown screens. Joe, in contrast, is the ultimate perimeter sidekick for SGA, rearranging defenders to empower his drives and pull-up scoring game.

OKC’s fail-safe set plays involve Joe. Those plays are central to the Thunder’s offensive identity, which revolves around guard-guard screening actions and relentless paint attacks.

The most notable of those set plays: Joe’s flat screens for SGA. You’ve seen it before:

That’s a “flat” screen because it’s not clear until the last second which direction Joe is setting the screen — if he’s even setting a screen at all.

Joe doesn’t simply run up and set a screen like any other player. Instead, he stands menacingly behind SGA’s defender, rendering defensive communication useless.

There’s no way for the Warriors’ Gui Santos to let Dennis Schroder know where the screen is coming. Santos has no idea. Joe has an impeccable sense for messing with teams in this way.

Few teams throughout basketball history have used these guard-guard screening actions because guards, naturally, are similar sizes. Defenses can just switch and call it a day. But the Thunder, led by Joe, have thrown a wrench into that thinking.

In the above example, how can the Warriors possibly switch that? Joe standing in front of Santos, and might run away in either direction at any moment. Never mind the fact that Joe is an ace shooter and you can’t leave him open. One moment of indecision, and you’re beat.

SGA is a master of gaining an advantage with his first step and then preserving that separation — either with a fierce drive into the paint or a midrange stepback. These flat screens empower those drives and cause panic for defenses.

The Thunder space the court with everyone else on the baseline when they run these flat screens — more or less forcing teams to defend it two-on-two. SGA pounces on any slight advantage.

Joe’s crafty movement has been fundamental to OKC’s offensive identity since he arrived in 2022 as a cast-off from the 76ers.

Almost immediately in October 2022, a then-23-year-old Joe breathed life into the Thunder’s young offense. He was a fourth quarter spark in an early-season game against Dallas, hitting four threes and finishing a plus-24 in a frantic comeback. Quickly, coach Mark Daigneault was putting Joe one pass away from SGA on the perimeter to free up driving lanes.

Joe essentially never left the rotation after that outburst. His screening became central to OKC’s system.

Here’s another pet play that revolves around Joe — even if it rarely actually leads to Joe shooting a three:

That’s a version of a stack pick-and-roll. One guy sets a screen for a ball-handler, while a third guy lurks to set a back-screen.

It’s a play a lot of teams run, often with a shooter setting that back-screen. Joe, however, doesn’t make contact with anybody on this play. Instead, he lingers around the paint until the precise moment that SGA gets a step on his defender. Then, he bolts, putting his defender in a bind: Chase Joe to the perimeter, or stick around to deal with a driving SGA?

Klay Thompson decided to prioritize SGA. Dallas scrambled well, but Lu Dort got an open three out of it.

Joe’s ability to scamper away at the exact right time is uncanny. His movement is unconventional, even counterintuitive. It’s so subtle as to go undetected — and with few others around the NBA doing what he does, defenders often look unprepared for it.

The presence of Isaiah Hartenstein as a physical screen-setter and expert passer has further unlocked Joe as an off-ball mover. With his burst and finishing ability, Joe is an excellent cutter, preying on defenders who are worried about his shot.

You can tell when Joe is in the game. The Thunder’s offense revs up when Joe is dragging defenders around, and the numbers reflect it. When Joe is out there, their offensive rating is a remarkable 120 — a number that drops to 115 when Joe sits. The offense has remained solid even when Joe plays without SGA.

Joe is a credible defender, too. He slides his feet and bodies up elite players who try to attack him. By staying in front of ball-handlers on closeouts and drives, he lets his teammates fly in to help and crowd the passing lanes. He takes a lot of charges.

The Thunder have a wealth of options in their rotation. When Chet Holmgren returns from injury, Daigneault will have impossible decisions to make. Joe might get squeezed out of minutes as Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, and Alex Caruso — who are all elite defenders — scrap for time.

But Joe is shooting 39 percent on a high-volume, tough shot diet. Only six players launch more threes per 100 possessions than Joe. He is the team’s only Grade A three-point shooter — the only guy that requires specific attention to stop his three-point attempts.

In tight playoff games, that quick-trigger skillset is crucial.

And as we saw in last year’s heavyweight playoff series against the Mavericks, when push comes to shove, the Thunder will rely on Joe’s pet actions in particular. SGA is comfortable executing those reads. With Joe’s crafty screen-setting, there is no obvious defensive solution. Late in games, Daigneault might have to find minutes for Joe somehow. (Joe started and played 29 minutes in the decisive Game 6 against Dallas, more than he did in any other playoff game.)

One thing that’s clear about this Thunder team is that they will not have any problems defending at an elite level. It’s on offense, where they will face athletic, in-sync defenses, that they have experienced problems in the biggest games.

In those moments, they will look to SGA and their long-established identity to get them over the top. For all their other talent, it is Joe who unlocks that identity.