Timberwolves' Nickeil Alexander-Walker loss stings worse than ever imagined

It was always clear that losing Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the Atlanta Hawks in free agency was a sizable loss for the Minnesota Timberwolves. In all fairness, the Wolves couldn't afford to keep all of Julius Randle, Naz Reid, and Alexander-Walker without dipping into the dreaded second tax apron. Regardless, I don't think anyone could have imagined that Alexander-Walker would be this good in Atlanta. 

NAW is currently averaging 19.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists on 47/35.6/85.3 shooting splits. That's an absurd 10.3 ppg increase from last season. In Alexander-Walker's last three games, he is averaging 29.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 4 assists on 56.4/42.9/82.4 shooting splits. This is highlighted by a career-high 38-point outing against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night. 

Yes, Alexander-Walker is benefiting from a bigger role following Trae Young's injury. Even still, I don't think anyone expected him to be close to a 20 ppg scorer. If you did, that's fantastic, seriously, hats off to you. 

The Wolves' young players haven't been able to fill the NAW void

I'm sure most Wolves fans are happy for Alexander-Walker. It's hard not to be happy for NAW he was a beloved role player and didn't leave on bad terms. Still, it certainly stings seeing him be this good in Atlanta, particularly, because the Wolves' replacements for NAW haven't totally panned out. 

Following Alexander-Walker's departure, the Wolves were set to empower Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr., and Jaylen Clark with bigger roles. Only Clark has risen to the occasion thus far. Clark has been the team's best point-of-attack defender, holding opposing players to 37.5 percent shooting from the field. His 17.2 minutes led the way for this group. Even still, Clark can't replicate close to Alexander-Walker's impact. 

Overall, though there's no debating that Clark has been the most impressive of this group, and filling the defensive void left behind by Alexander-Walker is extremely valuable. 

Dillingham has struggled in his minutes. Despite being billed as a gifted shot creator and scorer, he is averaging just 4.7 points on 37.3 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range. His 11.7 minutes are the least of this bunch. While he competes hard at 6-foot-1, Dillingham will never be close to the defender that NAW is. 

Shannon has been injured for the past two weeks. However, before that, he too struggled offensively, averaging 3.9 points on 32.7 percent shooting from the field. The idea was that Shannon could provide a similar impact to Alexander-Walker as a scorer and secondary playmaker. Unfortunately, Shannon has only done that in one out of the seven games he has played in so far.

Hindsight is 20-20, and I defended the Wolves' approach at the time. Regardless, with how well Alexander-Walker is playing, he sure seems like a player they should have gone into the second-apron for or made a subsequent move to make re-signing him possible.

Ultimately, seeing Alexander-Walker thrive in Atlanta is bittersweet for Wolves fans, as their young players haven't blossomed yet.