Nickeil Alexander-Walker plays freely and shines for Wolves

Mike Conley first met Nickeil Alexander-Walker when they were teammates on the Utah Jazz.

Alexander-Walker, being a young guy on a good team at the time, had few opportunities on the court. That left Alexander-Walker frustrated, and Conley remembers him getting upset in the locker room about not playing.

“I was like, ‘Man, I promise you, bro, if you just keep doing what you’re doing.’ He would come in at 7 a.m. and leave at 3 a.m., doing stretching and yoga and all that stuff,” Conley said. “Like, ‘Be so consistent, I guarantee you’ll get an opportunity and you’ll be able to take advantage of it.’

That’s exactly what happened: the Timberwolves acquired Conley and Alexander-Walker from the Jazz. Alexander-Walker has quickly emerged as a key player in Minnesota and has only continued to improve since donning the Wolves jersey.

There was no better example of the impact Alexander-Walker had on Wolves than on Friday night. victory with a score of 119-116 over the Denver Nuggets. In the game’s final three minutes, Alexander-Walker made two 3-pointers, made two steals and hit a pair of free throws as the Wolves rallied from a 10-point deficit to claim an unlikely victory.

“He’s just such a versatile player,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said of Alexander-Walker after the game. “He has really good defensive instincts; he can do a lot. Offensively, we trust him to make big shots, and he also gives us another ball handler, which is a bonus as well.”

Finch’s history with Alexander-Walker also goes back even further than his days in Minnesota. Finch was the associate head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans when Alexander-Walker was drafted by New Orleans in 2019. Finch recalls his struggles early in his career, seeing a player who was fixated on doing things a certain way to the point where he couldn’t do it. Listen.

“(Alexander-Walker) has a tendency to overthink and when he overthinks he gets hard on himself, so a lot of our honesty is just going back to the basics and reminding him how he got so successful for us. Finch said before the team’s home opener against the Toronto Raptors.

Alexander-Walker spent this offseason working to improve the point guard position, as the Wolves didn’t have another true point guard on the roster since Conley. But the successful trade of Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks brought in Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, giving the Wolves more ball-handling players. Playing in this was still Alexander-Walker’s goal in pre-season, but Finch eventually asked him to return to what he is best at.

“He’s smart, once you have that conversation it makes sense,” Finch said. “But a few years ago this didn’t happen. He fought you because he just wanted it so bad.”

Alexander-Walker has been a standout during the regular season, and after Friday’s win, Finch said he is playing some of the best and most consistent basketball on the team. This led to Finch playing Alexander-Walker in crunch time on Friday and even calling the game for him – an opportunity which Alexander-Walker made the most of, guiding Wolves to victory.

“Especially in the fourth, it means a lot,” Alexander-Walker said of Finch calling his number. “And Finchy and I have come a long way. And I’ll take whatever I can get, so for me it’s definitely like passing the baton or something. It’s like we’ve moved to another level. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s just about winning.”

Conley saw the work Alexander-Walker did with the Jazz and continues to see him develop with the Wolves. Part of this development occurred in his thinking. Conley described Alexander-Walker as a perfectionist, but able to slow down, forget about mistakes and focus on the next game. This allowed Alexander-Walker to play for free.

He played free on Friday night, making crucial stops and scoring all eight of his points in the game’s biggest minutes. Alexander-Walker also posted a game-best plus-minus of plus-27.

“(Friday) was one of the first days in a long time that I wasn’t nervous going into this game,” Alexander-Walker said. “I was a little worried about it because I don’t want to just go out there quietly and act bland, but I just really feel the trust in my work and the trust that I have in my faith in God. For me, I had to stop worrying about the outcome because every day is consistent for me and is probably the most focused and purposeful day of my life for a greater purpose beyond me and my family.”