Sixers: Who should get cut (or traded) before the season?
Sixers on the chopping block: Isaiah Joe
The final year of Isaiah Joe’s three-year rookie contract does not become guaranteed until opening night. That leaves him in the danger zone, even if the fan favorite is operating from a position of power in training camp. Philadelphia’s improved depth makes it difficult to chart a path to regular minutes for Joe, but he feels like a player who should be competing for playing time — not a roster spot.
That said, let’s not oversell Joe’s standing with the team. A former second-round pick, Joe has spent two full seasons with the franchise. Not once has he secured regular playing time for an extended stretch of the season. Has Doc Rivers been the most bold experimenter in the game? No. But it would be flat-out false to claim that Joe hasn’t had chances to carve out a role. Chances that, up to this point, he simply has not taken advantage of.
Much was made of Furkan Korkmaz’s woeful shooting performance last season, but Joe wasn’t far behind. He shot 33.3 percent from deep (and only 35 percent from the field), which isn’t good enough to separate yourself from the crowd when you’re billed as a shooting specialist.
On paper, Joe is the perfect Sixers reserve: he was one of the best shooters in college basketball two years ago on absurd volume. He can hit every type of 3 — pulling up, side-steps, step-backs, gunning around screens, you name it. He has even looked like a competent defender in his brief NBA trials. But we’ve seen Doc bury him on the bench two years in a row. He will need to put his best foot forward in training camp.