This Timberwolves player deserves a hero’s welcome at Target Center

From newbie to new starter

Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly had acted decisively and with authority when he arrived, taking a high-risk, high-reward gamble at acquiring center Rudy Gobert. But unlike many late-night infomercials where you just set it, and forget it, Connelly monitored the team’s progress throughout the season and pulled the trigger at the NBA Trade Deadline in the hopes of resetting the Timberwolves roster to a more aligned group of players.

While some viewed any doubling down at the NBA Trade Deadline as one more high-risk low-reward effort, the move proved to be both timely and inciteful. Not only did the Timberwolves land a true point guard, but the team added another 3-and-D type player in Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a young player who competed in 23 games to finish out the season. While his 5.9 PPG was not setting the world on fire, he was a formidable defender who had a sneaky solid perimeter shot that scored 36.1 percent of the time.

Starting in an NBA Playoff game

After an impressive two games in the NBA Play-In Tournament, the young shooting guard was surprised to learn that he was tapped to start in Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs against the Denver Nuggets in place of the injured small forward Jaden McDaniels.

But the report now is that it was Tim Connelly’s recommendation to start NAW against the Denver Nuggets, which is even more impressive.  Anything that he could contribute to the offense should be considered a bonus. The Timberwolves wanted to deploy Alexander-Walker’s stifling defense and the ability to stick to his assignment like velcro, much like he did against the Oklahoma City Thunder’s start Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The results were more than impressive enough to land him a much larger role in the team. In his first NBA Playoffs game with the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was tapped for the start. So how did he do?
In two NBA Playoff games, his stat lines are:

Game 1- (start) 24 mins | 7 points | 1 rebound | 0 assists | 1 block | 0 steals | 1 foul | 2 turnovers
Game 2 -(bench) 27 mins | 5 points | 2 rebs | 2 assists | 0 blocks | 1 steal | 2 fouls | 0 turnovers

While those are not the type of numbers to get his name in the headlines, Nickeil Alexander-Walker has been playing his heart out with a team that he has just joined and in roles that he is seeing for the very first time.

Alexander-Walker had the best (+/-) rating of any Minnesota Timberwolves starter in Game 1 at -6. And his 33.3 percent shooting from beyond the perimeter in the NBA Playoffs has him tied for the fifth-best perimeter shooter so far.  A hero’s welcome?

Perhaps I’m being a bit too generous. But the Minnesota Timberwolves fans need to rally behind some players right now for their first home game in Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs, and shooting guard Anthony Edwards and center Rudy Gobert are the obvious answers. And if not for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the Timberwolves may never have gotten to this point. So why not?

I like those blue-collar, hard-working players. That’s why I will be cheering for Nickei Alexander Walker throughout Game 3.  I may be the only one to do so, but that’s okay. I want the guy to know that someone notices his effort. And maybe if the fans in the stands join me, some of the other players will put in a similar level of effort, too.