Toronto Raptors: 4 takes on Chris Boucher and Canadians in the NBA
By Avishai Sol
No. 3: Nickeil Alexander-Walker unlocks the Pelicans
The cousin of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nickeil’s offensive repertoire is much more in line with the traditional scoring guard. He doesn’t do the weird off-balance finishes, falling away jumpers, the twisting, slithering layups SGA does. Instead, NAW is a polished sparkplug scorer. Floaters, pull-up threes, and gliding to the rim.
After an underwhelming rookie year in which he only saw limited playing time, Alexander-Walker has now emerged as a reliable third creator behind Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. Since the start of March, when Pelicans head coach Stan Van Gundy has entrusted Walker with real minutes, he’s been around 15 points and 5 rebounds a game at a 44% clip.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker is the key to New Orleans’ offense
This injection of shooting into the Pelicans rotation means just another young piece to fit with Zion. When you have an interior player of that caliber, having spacers around him is vital to give him room to operate. Force the defenders to play the other four Pelicans honest, and let Zion eat up in single coverage.
Why force Lonzo Ball to be a mere spacer or the footnote in every Zion alley-oop when he can be given free rein to run the team off the bench? NAW opens up so many possibilities.
With this past month of play, Alexander-Walker has earned himself a second contract, but more than his newfound individual success is the success he can bring to the Pelicans. He looks to be on track to be a very important piece in New Orleans’ future as the man who allows the stars to shine their brightest.