After being taken with the 17th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, expectations were high for Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
The cousin of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed some flashes of promise, but inconsistent play led him to being traded twice in his first four seasons. He's finally found a home in Minnesota, embracing an extremely valuable role in the league — he's going to make life miserable for the guy that he's guarding and he's going to find smart ways to get buckets.
Don't let his modest 8.0 points per game during the regular season fool you. Alexander-Walker can turn a playoff series for the Wolves. He's the team's X-Factor and one of the keys to a long postseason run for them.
MORE: This is why the Pacers traded for Pascal Siakam
Nickeil Alexander-Walker has found his offensive fit
NAW is more than just a 3-and-D specialist. He doesn't have the ability to finish at the rim like his cousin, but he's still a high-skill guard who plays well off of stars.
While other players might walk it up after a make, Alexander-Walker sprints into actions.
Check out this Pistol set after a Devin Booker basket, where he waved for teammates to speed it up, flying past halfcourt into a ball screen:
He's decisive with his actions, preventing opponents from resting.
NAW pairs that driving with good court vision. He's a master of the lefty skip pass, which allows him to sling the ball anywhere on the floor.
The most important growth in Alexander-Walker's game is with his shot. The Suns have tried to crowd Anthony Edwards or throw double teams at him. NAW has come up huge in those spots, hitting 38.5 percent of his 3s through the first two games of the team's first-round series.
That strong accuracy is a continuation of NAW's career-high 39.1 percent from 3 this season, on good volume (4.1 attempts per game). He showed flashes of that skill as a 38.3 percent shooter in college, but it took moving to Minnesota before he started doing it consistently at the pro level.
The big question mark for the Timberwolves going into the playoffs was if they could get enough offense outside of Ant to compete with other teams. NAW is giving the team its answer.
MORE: LeBron is right — officiating has been an issue so far in playoffs
Nickeil Alexander-Walker is the most underrated perimeter defender in NBA
When it comes to Minnesota's top-rated defense, Rudy Gobert gets most of the praise. He's back to top form, though, in large part because of the team's elite perimeter defenders.
Jaden McDaniels is getting well-deserved All-Defensive buzz. People know that Edwards tries to shut guys down one-on-one at the end of games. But Alexander-Walker is the silent assassin who might be better than both of them.
How do you quantify being a try-hard pest? Many of the hustle plays that encapsulate NAW's game aren't credited as steals in the box score, but he destroyed the after-timeout play that the Suns were trying to run simply by refusing to get out of Booker's grill.
That was a theme throughout the night for Booker in a miserable Game 2 performance in which he turned it over six times. NAW was in his shirt, stopping his drives and forcing him to pass out to reset the Suns' offense. He doesn't back down from any challenge, including guarding Kevin Durant.
There is no casual with Alexander-Walker. If you make a lazy handoff, as Jusuf Nurkic did during Game 1, he will get skinny through the screen and rip the ball away. If you knock him down, as Durant did, he will get right back up and force you into a contested jumper.
All-in-one statistics that measure overall impact do show that the Wolves guard a lot better when NAW is out there. His +3.0 Defensive EPM ranked in the 98th percentile of all players, and Minnesota's defense was better when he was on the floor.
NAW is the tenacious defender who gives the Wolves their bite. He's completely turned around his career by becoming a super sub off the bench. He's raised his game even more through the start of the playoffs. If he keeps it up, then the Wolves could end up surprising a lot of people.
