The Pistons made a smart move to trade for Isaiah Joe this offseason and bring more shooting to a roster that was woefully short on it. But they’re also hoping that Joe can show more skill in his on-ball game with more opportunity in Detroit. Joe can satisfy Pistons fans and make the Thunder regret trading him by expanding his game next season.
Isaiah Joe has more juice than fans realize
Everyone knows that Joe is great as an off-ball weapon. He excels at flying off screens and hitting movement threes. That’s also where the Pistons will need him most. But Joe also has some underrated on-ball creation ability.
Creating his own shots off the dribble has never been a huge part of Joe’s game but it is a growing skillset. Last season, 21% of his shot attempts were classified as pull-ups and he had an effective field goal percentage of 57% on them. For comparison, Cade Cunningham’s eFG% on his pull-ups was just 49%, although Cade took a much higher volume of them.
Joe does a good job of using his off-ball prowess to set up his on-ball creation. He’ll often flow into a dribble sequence to attack a defender closing out hard on him. Because of the Thunder’s depth with other talented wing players, that was really the only chance Joe got to show off his pull-up and drive game.
The Pistons will give Joe more opportunity
But the Pistons have lost some of their shot creation over the offseason and need replacements, especially among their bench units. When Joe is playing with backups, he should have more chances to handle the ball if he proves effective.
Detroit’s backup point guard situation is unsteady and reliant on inexperienced players, so they may rely on Joe for more ball handling. Last season, the Pistons relied on Caris LeVert to provide additional ball-handling off the bench but he disappointed with poor decision-making and bad efficiency. Joe has never struggled with those same issues, so he could be a more steady hand.
Outside of Cade, the Pistons don’t have proven ball handlers anywhere else on the roster. This is a stark contrast to the Thunder, where Joe primarily played alongside at least one All-Star creator in either Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Jalen Williams. Even when Williams was out last season, the Thunder got more high-level ball handling in Ajay Mitchell.
For all we know, Joe could be ready for his breakout as a shot creator already but never got the right opportunity thanks to the Thunder’s depth and playoff ambitions. But he’s on a roster now that’s searching for more answers in that department and should get plenty of room to grow his game.
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