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League sources say Detroit Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart is available. The Pistons, in search of additional shooting and playmakers, appear ready to rely on seventh-year big man Paul Reed in an increased role. Stewart has two years and a combined $30 million left on his deal (team option in the second season). Detroit, which is believed to be among the suitors for Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves if he makes it to unrestricted free agency, is also said to be interested in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Isaiah Joe.
Draymond Green: "How about this guy need to go back and get in the lab and get better and go work on his game because this guy just exposed all your weaknesses and showed everything that you need to get better at. What about the criticism of he need to get back in the lab this summer and be motivated and get better? Why is it we need to trade him? Like these takes they they just seem to get a little lazy at times to me, like trade him, why is all of a sudden everything always about the trade? Up, trade this guy, trade that guy, trade like, what? I just don't understand it. So, no, I don't expect Chet Holmgren to be traded. They will have to make some moves because I also don't foresee OKC paying $250 million in salary and taxes next year and going into the second apron. I don't see that either. So they will have to make some decisions, maybe Lu Dort, maybe Hartenstein, maybe trade Joe, maybe trade Wiggins. Like they're going to have to make some tough decisions for sure. Maybe they trade them picks because if they if they sign their 12th and 17th pick and they keep those and draft those players, it's going to cost them in the first year those salaries $80 million over the course of those two players. So maybe they do some of that stuff, but the whole trade Chet Holmgren is blasphemous, what he did this year."
The most likely candidates to be moved in a trade to rebalance the roster are Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, who have proved to be quality role players but fell out of the rotation during these playoffs. Joe is due $11.3 million next season and has a team option at the same salary for 2027-28. Wiggins is due $9.2 million next season and $8.3 million in 2027-28 with an $8.3 million team option in 2028-29.
Claude did some statistical analysis, and found something interesting: the correlation strengthens over time. Investment in young players in 2022 weakly predicts wins by 2024 (r = 0.29), but very strongly predicts wins by 2026 (r = 0.66). What we see in these electric Western conference finals are teams that began playing young players years ago. The same is true of the playoffs generally. (The Knicks are a bit of an exception. 19th in the league in playing young players over the last four years … and killing everybody in the playoffs so far.) The Thunder’s 2022-2023 roster featured 19 players, 16 of whom were under the age of 25. The team wasn’t amazing, finishing with 40 wins and 42 losses. But it was an important year for the team to figure out which young players mattered to their long-term. A dozen young players got real NBA playing time trying to see if they could learn to play with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 21-year-old Jalen Williams, 23-year-old Luguentz Dort, 23-year old Isaiah Joe, 20-year-old Jaylin Williams all earned way more time than they would playing under a lot of coaches, and are now key parts of a team that’s defending a title.
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Nick Gallo: Mark Daigneault with a story about OKC's teamwork and camaraderie: In Game 2, Isaiah Joe was giving Daigneault play-call recommendations to spring Jared McCain free while McCain was playing in the minutes Joe typically plays. Tonight, the roles reversed and Joe played more.
Clemente Almanza: Jaylin Williams and Isaiah Joe are getting a street named after them at Ft. Smith, Arkansas
Jaylin Williams and Isaiah Joe are getting a street named after them at Ft. Smith, Arkansas pic.twitter.com/duVVpPkxds
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) May 7, 2026
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Justin Martinez: Final: Thunder 116, Timberwolves 103. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 20 points and 10 assists, Chet Holmgren: 21 points and 9 rebounds, Isaiah Joe: 20 points and 4 rebounds. SGA extends his historic 20-point streak to 128 games, and OKC (53-15) extends its winning streak to eight.
Justin Martinez: Asked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander about Isaiah Joe’s 3-point shooting as of late: “The guy can flat out shoot it with the best of them. I’m not surprised by any of it. He didn’t start the year as hot as he is now, so I knew it’d be evened out. I’m not surprised at all.”
Justin Martinez: Final: Thunder 100, Mavericks 87 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 30 points, 5 assists and 4 steals Chet Holmgren: 19 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks Isaiah Joe: 14 points and 5 rebounds OKC improves to 47-15 on the season. Next up is a road game against Chicago at 7 p.m. CST Tuesday.
