Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker was an overlooked piece in last month’s three-team blockbuster that sent D’Angelo Russell to Los Angeles and Mike Conley to Minnesota, but the former first-round pick believes he has benefited from the change of scenery he got as a result of that deal, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.
“I feel blessed to be in this organization,” Alexander-Walker said on Saturday. “I know what my role is and I’m getting a chance to play through mistakes, help my team by making winning plays. The way the West is, every game matters and it’s a great chance to grow as a player and person.”
As Grange observes, Alexander-Walker hasn’t been given a chance so far in his NBA career to establish any real continuity. The fourth-year guard is already playing for his third team and his sixth head coach since entering the NBA in 2019. He’ll be eligible for restricted free agency this summer, so it’s possible he’ll be playing for yet another team and coach later this year. But the Timberwolves have been impressed with what they’ve seen from the 24-year-old so far, according to head coach Chris Finch.
“We’ve been very pleased with Nickeil. We like him a lot,” Finch said. “Offensively he’s got a versatile game that we like. Defensively he’s really grown, as you would expect. That’s where I’ve seen the most growth since his rookie year, which is natural, but he enjoys defense, he takes the challenge. He’s got really good size, he’s very smart and now he’s putting the pieces together, like understanding game plan and his opponent’s tendencies and stuff like that.
“It’s crazy when you think that Nickeil has played for six coaches in four years,” Finch continued. “So he just needs to be able to be out there. We’ll put our arms around him and keep encouraging him and I think he’s going to be a really good player in this league.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards is already out of his walking boot and is moving around more after spraining his right ankle on Friday, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The swelling in Edwards’ ankle has also gone down, Charania adds. Edwards missed Saturday’s loss to Toronto, but is expected to be evaluated on a day-to-day basis going forward, so it’s possible his absence won’t last much longer.
- Denver has now lost five of its last six games, prompting star center Nikola Jokic to acknowledge that the Nuggets “need to be concerned” about their recent slide, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. As Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports writes, it’s not unusual for top NBA teams to let their foot off the gas late in the season, but the Nuggets will need to rediscover their mojo soon rather than counting on flipping a switch once the postseason begins.
- Jazz players have appreciated Will Hardy‘s willingness to listen to their ideas and implement them if he finds merit in them, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News, who notes that Lauri Markkanen and Kelly Olynyk helped convince the first-year head coach to introduce more zone looks on defense. “I think he’s someone who you can approach and he’ll really take your suggestions into consideration,” Olynyk said. “You know, sometimes you go to a restaurant and you see a suggestion box and you never really know if those get read, but he’ll read every one of them. Gotta love it.”
Not only is Nikiel one of the guys I have been quietly keeping up with,he was also in the eye of players whom are going to be moved somewhere and handed the ball on the scouts list as well.
Most have either been jammed up like him and given audition minutes only or solid to goid players on losing teams that are for the most directionless and impatient with their approaches and expectations.
All #1 picks should be playing in the G-league. Instead of sitting on the bench. Or getting inconsistent mins. You can not expect a 19yr old kid. To save your franchise. They need to learn the NBA and your system. Best way is by playing……. Every team should be doing this.
It makes no sense that teams aren’t doing thus more…
These kids need to learn and sitting on the bench will only teach them so much that a film session can’t…
Nuggets look like pretenders. Hard to see them coming out of the west.
I wouldn’t even call them pretenders. Anyone who watches them closely knows they don’t have the pieces to win a title
If the Nuggets don’t have don’t the pieces to win a title then what does a team need? They have arguably the best player in the game in Jokic, they have great shooters in KCP and Porter, they have a great secondary shot creator in Murray and.thwy have great.wing defenders in the aforementioned KCP, Gordon and Brown.
When Jokic needs a break they can go small with green at the 5 or big with Bryant. I’m not confident in Braun or Jackson but playoff teams only need to go 7-8 deep. Just like anybody else this season if everyone stays healthy they have as good of shot as any.
The combination of an open-minded coach surrounded by guys with ideas can’t be a bad thing. Seems to work despite all the player movement the Jazz have done. Coach Hardy, Markkanen, and Olynyk have been the 3 common factors when the Jazz get big wins or go on winning streaks. Olynyk has shown he’s worth keeping on the roster next year. He’s a good team player and knows basketball.
Of course, guys like Kessler has helped stabilize the defense to a degree and rebounding to a greater degree. Your team still has to have a great plan in place or you’ll find that a team just struggles endlessly every year.
No wonder Markkanen suggested zone looks to Hardy, since beating that defensive was Sean Miller’s kryptonite during Lauri’s time at Arizona. Playing against the zone made Miller sweat like a Finn in a sauna.
However, one of the suggestions should advise Kessler practicing FTs. Just because one is tall doesn’t mean that 53% from the charity stripe are acceptable, counterexamples: Markkanen and Nowitzki. Currently, hacking the guy too often pays off for the opponent.