Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker won the Kia Most Improved Player of the Year Award for the 2025-26 season. He's a special player.
Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker was named the second-most underrated player in the NBA by Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report.
Alexander-Walker won the Kia Most Improved Player of the Year Award for the 2025-26 season. He's a special player.
"Alexander-Walker made his presence felt at both ends," Buckley wrote. "His offensive output predictably featured a bunch of career-highs, but his defense remained as disruptive as ever. He cracked the 78th percentile in estimated defensive plus/minus while swiping a career-best 1.3 steals per contest.
"Widening the lens from individual accomplishments, though, he just keeps having a star-like impact on his team's success. During his two full seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, they were 3.9 points better per 100 possessions with him than without. In his first season with the Hawks, that number jumped to plus-5.2 points per 100 possessions. Is anybody talking about him as a two-way star or something close to it? Because it kinda seems like we all should."
The Hawks acquired Alexander-Walker from the Minnesota Timberwolves last offseason. Alexander-Walker averaged 20.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game during the 2025-26 regular season. He averaged only 9.4 points per game in 2024-25 with Minnesota.
Alexander-Walker helped the Hawks go 46-36 last season. They were the sixth seed in the 2026 Eastern Conference playoffs and lost to the New York Knicks in the first round in six games.
Alexander-Walker shot 45.9% from the field, 39.9% from beyond the arc and 90.2% from the free-throw line last season. The Hawks are the first team since the Most Improved Player of the Year Award’s birth to have back-to-back winners. Dyson Daniels won the award in 2024-25.
The cousin of Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alexander-Walker has career averages of 10.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in the NBA. He's played for the New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz, Timberwolves and Hawks.
“Nickeil's dedication, continual work on his craft, and the ensuing results this season make him incredibly deserving of this award,” Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said. "He has a tireless work ethic and a focus on improving in every aspect of his game. His game continues to evolve, and his commitment and unselfish attitude as a teammate have also positively impacted the success of the team.”
With Alexander-Walker, Daniels, Jalen Johnson and CJ McCollum leading the way, the Hawks appear to have a bright future. The front office has been very busy this offseason improving the roster.
Before trading Zaccharie Risacher to the Dallas Mavericks and acquiring Lu Dort from the Thunder and Ryan Nembhard from the Mavericks, the Hawks re-signed McCollum and Jock Landale, acquired Devin Carter from the Sacramento Kings and Aaron Wiggins from the Thunder, declined Jonathan Kuminga's team option and drafted Kingston Flemings, Zuby Ejiofor and Henri Veesaar.
