Before the season began in October, the Philadelphia 76ers made the difficult decision to waive third-year guard Isaiah Joe to get the roster down the opening day limit. Joe had shown a great deal of potential as a 3-and-D player, but he never played consistent minutes.
Shortly after being waived, Joe landed with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He has been given more of an opportunity and has produced in those minutes.
The Sixers visited the Thunder on Saturday for their first look at Joe since they waived him. He had eight points and five rebounds off the bench as the Sixers earned an easy win in Oklahoma City to end the road trip. Coach Doc Rivers revealed he and Joe have kept in contact even though he is not with the team anymore.
“We still talk all the time,” Rivers told reporters. “I text back and forth a lot with him. I’m very happy with him and he’s gotten a lot more playing time. One of the things, and he’ll tell you, I was brutally honest with him in a good way about don’t choose anywhere that you can’t play. You have to go somewhere where you can play now.”
The Thunder, unlike the Sixers, are a rebuilding team. They offer a chance for somebody like Joe to get the necessary court time in the NBA to continue to develop as a young player. He just didn’t get that opportunity in Philadelphia.
“You deserve to play,” Rivers continued with his message to Joe. “You were caught in numbers on our team with all these guys in front of you. I’m so happy for him. It’s still up and down and stuff like that. I text him a couple times when he didn’t do what he should be doing.”
Rivers has been a guy who always keeps in contact with his former players. When Philadelphia traded Andre Drummond at the 2022 deadline to acquire James Harden, Rivers kept in contact with Drummond as well.
Now, he’s doing so with Joe.
“As a coach, you have a relationship,” Rivers finished. “You get a relationship with some of your players and it doesn’t stop when they are no longer with the team. You still care for him, you still want them to do well. Isaiah did everything that we asked him to do and so I’m very happy that he’s doing well.”
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