Isaiah Joe Traded to Pistons, Latest NBA Rumors on Thunder's Return Ahead of Free Agency

After their three-point shooting woes were exposed in the playoffs, the Detroit Pistons are adding Isaiah Joe to provide a boost to their offense for next season.

Per ESPN's Shams Charania, the Pistons are trading two future second-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Joe.

ESPN's Bobby Marks noted the Pistons only have $136 million in salary commitments for next season at this point, but they are over the cap at the moment due in part to Jalen Duren's $19.5 million cap hold.

Duren's restricted free agency negotiations with the Pistons could get tense, with The Athletic's Sam Amick reporting on Friday the two sides are far enough apart that Duren is going to explore sign-and-trade options.

Despite the stalemate, NBA insider Chris Haynes noted the Pistons are "conveying" to teams they won't trade Duren and remain focused on getting an extension done.

As the Pistons try to figure out their situation with Duren, their other main priority this offseason was finding shooters to put around Cade Cunningham.

Even though the Pistons finished tied for fourth in three-point percentage among the 16 teams in the playoffs, their 29.9 attempts per game were the third-fewest from that group.

Of the 150 made threes for the Pistons in the playoffs, Cunningham and Duncan Robinson accounted for 82 of them. Joe has shot better than 40.0 percent from behind the arc in four consecutive seasons. He has averaged at least six attempts per game in each of the past two seasons.

Joe's 41.5 percent success rate on threes since the start of the 2022-23 season is tied for 14th in the NBA. He has also been terrific in the postseason, connecting on 38.4 percent of his three-point attempts in 55 games.

The Thunder are making this move amid a financial crunch with three max contracts on their books between Shai Gilgeous-Alexand, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams.

Holmgren's and Williams' contracts go into effect with the 2026-27 season, leaving the Thunder in a position where they are currently projected to be $28.6 million over the second apron.

Joe is entering the final guaranteed season of a four-year, $48 million contract that also includes an $11.3 million player option for 2027-28.

The next big decision for the Thunder will be Isaiah Hartenstein's $28.5 million team option that must be picked up by Monday.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported this week the expectation is Hartenstein will remain with Oklahoma City, but it's unclear if he will play on his option or sign a new multiyear contract that lowers his average annual salary.

The Thunder did give themselves options at the center position by taking Michigan's Aday Mara with the No. 12 pick in the draft on Tuesday.