Explosive scoring surge propels Nickeil Alexander-Walker to NBA's Most Improved Player finalist. Discover the standout season that captivated the league.
After Nickeil Alexander-Walker's stellar first season with the Atlanta Hawks, he has been rewarded with being named a finalist for the NBA's Most Improved Player award.
The other two finalists are the Portland Trail Blazers' Deni Avdija and the Detroit Pistons' Jalen Duren. Barring a shocking development in the final week of the award decision, Alexander-Walker should take home this award due to his incredible leaps in scoring production.
The Hawks are currently taking on the New York Knicks in round one of the NBA playoffs, but are down 1-0. The winner of the NBA's Most Improved Player will be announced on Friday.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker has played 459 career NBA games and has a scoring average of 10.6 points per game on 43% shooting from the field and 37% from beyond the arc.
This season with the Atlanta Hawks, NAW averaged 20.8 points per game on 46% overal shooting from the floor, and 40% from 3-point land. Alexander-Walker averaged 15.3 FGA/game this season, which is by far a career-high. Nickeil also made his free throws at a 90% clip.
NAW did two things that are very noteworthy this season, and should drastically help his case for MIP. First, he posted a career-high scoring game with 41 points, and he broke the Hawks' single-season 3-pointers made record.
Atlanta is relying on Alexander-Walker to have strong scoring outputs in the NBA playoffs if they want a chance to compete with a tough New York team.
However, regardless of how this Knicks series pans out, Alexander-Walker still stands out as one of the best NBA contracts handed out this offseason, and he has been a revelation for this Atlanta squad for pretty much the whole season.