Many people became Nickeil Alexander-Walker fans during the playoffs and had large expectations for the fifth-year guard entering the season. After an impressive postseason performance against the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves signed Alexander-Walker a two-year, $9 million contract extension. After signing the extension, Alexander-Walker became a crucial role player in Canada’s bronze medal FIBA run. Alexander-Walker’s post-season and off-season success cemented his spot on the roster and rotation minutes. Although he’s having trouble shooting the ball, Alexander-Walker is earning his rotation minutes this season.
Alexander-Walker’s counting stats don’t do his impact justice. He’s only averaging 3.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 19.3 minutes of play. Alexander-Walker is averaging his lowest points per 36 minutes of his career (6.1). For context, his next lowest is 12.8. He’s had a slow start shooting the ball from almost anywhere on the floor. Alexander-Walker is shooting a career-worst 28.1% from the field and 25% from three-point range. He’s also 0-4 from the free-throw line, including shooting two technical foul shots and missing both.
However, there’s reason to believe he’ll start to shoot better. Alexander-Walker showed improvement in his playoff performance last season and in his time with Team Canada. However, confidence is a large part of a shooter’s success. Shooters usually stop shooting when they lose confidence, and Alexander-Walker only shot the ball once in Minnesota’s 122-101 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
Maybe he didn’t shoot much because the Wolves blew New Orleans out. He had eight assists, so perhaps he was focused on playmaking. There were also points in the game where Alexander-Walker passed up shots and wasn’t as aggressive going to the rim. In the clip below, Alexander-Walker appeared to choose ball movement instead of shooting a shot that he’d usually take. It could be a sign of development, or maybe he’s lost faith in his shot.
Despite his shooting slump, Alexander-Walker has been a crucial reason why the Wolves have been winning games. By focusing on his improved playmaking, Alexander-Walker is averaging the most assists per game of his career (2.9). That translates to a career-high 32.8% assist ratio, which measures the ratio of a player’s possessions that end in assists.
Alexander-Walker’s 32.8% assist ratio is 10.4% higher than the next-highest ratio of his career. His 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio further supports his better playmaking and awareness. That’s .4 higher than his previous career high. Below is one of Alexander-Walker’s assists from earlier this year against the Miami Heat, which shows off his dribble penetration and ability to draw in defenders before passing out for an easy three.
Another positive of Alexander-Walker’s playmaking ability is his willingness to bring the ball up the court. He can break presses and allow Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards to save energy. With Jordan McLaughlin missing the next month with an injured MCL, Alexander-Walker’s improvement in ball security and running the offense is vital to the team. If his shooting improves, that could cement him as a backup point guard.
In the clip below, Alexander-Walker shows the strength and ability as he fires a left-handed dart through traffic to an open Naz Reid:
Alexander-Walker may have improved his playmaking this year, but he’s been elite defensively. He has a career-best 107.0 defensive rating this season, which puts him in the top 40% of the league. For context, Aaron Gordon also has a 107.0 rating, and they are ahead of LeBron James (107.4) and Pascal Siakam (107.5).
Defensive ratings are shorthand for how a player is playing defensively. However, the statistic is flawed and factors in team and individual defense. Therefore, we must dive deeper into Alexander-Walker’s statistics to understand his true impact.
Below is just one example from the Utah Jazz game of how he can ruin possessions single-handedly with his defensive intensity:
Alexander-Walker is averaging .9 blocks and .9 steals per game. Both are an improvement over his career averages of 0.4 blocks and 0.7 steals per game. His drastic increase in his blocks per game is even more impressive. That’s also shown in his block percentage numbers, which vaulted from 17.6% last season to 28.6% this year.
We can see Alexander-Walker’s defensive improvement with his ability to use his length to contest jump shots and his ability to rotate as a help defender and block players from behind. Alexander-Walker’s raw numbers highlight his improvement. In 23 games with Minnesota last year, Alexander-Walker had 8 total steals and 7 total blocks. And he has 6 steals and 6 blocks in 7 games this season.
In the clip below, Alexander-Walker gets credit for a block before jumping out and getting a steal off the double-team with Kyle Anderson.
Alexander-Walker has also drawn the tough task of being one of Minnesota’s most important hustle defenders, meaning his impact doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet. He full-presses and traps defenders on inbounds with aplomb.
These plays occur after a made basket in which Alexander-Walker follows the ball-handler all the way up the court, bumping into him and applying pressure until the ball-handler gives the ball up. Finch most frequently asks Alexander-Walker to press in his first sub in, usually in the first quarter. Teams typically employ this tactic to fatigue ball handlers and cause frustration.
In the clip below, Alexander-Walker shadows a ball handler from half-court, breaks up a pass, and hustles to contest Reggie Jackson’s three:
Alexander-Walker faced heightened expectations after playing well in the playoffs and signing an extension. Although he started the season in a shooting slump, Alexander-Walker’s defensive ability and improvement in playmaking have evened out his lack of shotmaking. The hope must be that he’ll eventually end his slump, and Alexander-Walker will cement himself as a key role player on the Wolves for the rest of the season and a deep playoff run.
