Jazz Intrigued By Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s Tools

SALT LAKE CITY – When the Utah Jazz acquired Nickeil Alexander-Walker at the trade deadline there were reasons for optimism, and concern with third-year guard.

Opportunities to acquire a 23-year-old who just three years ago was considered a borderline lottery pick are few and far between, especially without giving up major assets in return.

However, Alexander-Walker’s first two and a half seasons haven’t matched the hype the guard garnered prior to the 2019 NBA Draft.

What does Nickeil Alexander-Walker offer the @utahjazz, and is there hope for his shooting?#TakeNote https://t.co/TPxosVxH6K

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 9, 2022

Alexander-Walker struggled to shoot the ball in New Orleans, and didn’t develop into the playmaker they hoped they were landing when they landed the guard on draft night.

Despite his early-career struggles, the Jazz see more in Alexander-Walker’s tools than he’s showed in his first 143 games in the NBA.

“We’ve always wanted to bet on our coaching staff, our culture here, and our development staff to take some of the really good things that I think Nickeil shows, and make it even better,” Jazz general manager Justin Zanik said.

Alexander-Walker’s transition from Virginia Tech to the NBA has been one of the stranger changes in recent draft memory.

The guard was a strong shooter in college knocking down 38 percent of his threes with good passing instincts on offense.

Defensively, Alexander-walker showed great promise as a defender using his 6-foot-5 frame and 6-foot-9.5 inch wingspan to lock up his opponents.

In New Orleans, however, the guard has found himself as more of a high-usage, low-efficiency scorer, often operating in isolation and settling for unnecessarily difficult shots.

On defense, his long frame and natural instincts haven’t translated defensively at the NBA level.

The Jazz front office, though, insists the team believes that what Alexander-Walker showed in college can be improved upon in Utah.

“We did a lot of work on him in the draft, as well,” Zanik said. “[He’s a] great kid, hard worker — like I said before, he has tools. Having him come in here, get settled — we play in a different way than he’s been raised in the NBA, I think he’ll acclimate pretty quickly.”

Alexander-Walker, for his part, agrees with Zanik’s perspective and discussed changing teams.

“I don’t point fingers to say they held me back or anything,” Alexander-Walker said of his last stop in New Orleans. “I just can only imagine what I’m going bring to this team, and I’m excited because a lot of it goes well with who I am.”

With Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Jordan Clarkson, and Trent Forrest already on the roster, the Jazz don’t need Alexander-Walker to step in immediately and contribute. But with his youth, physical profile on defense, and offensive upside, his development would be a huge plus for the Jazz future.

“I’m really at my best getting into the paint and then making plays from there, and also as a perimeter defender,” Alexander-Walker said. “That’s where my main focus is right now just coming to the team.”

Alexander-Walker’s could be available tonight for the Jazz when they host the Orlando Magic at Vivint Arena.

Follow @benshoops