Nickeil Alexander-Walker is going to be awesome as a member of the Atlanta Hawks. That much is clear. What exactly his role will entail when the season kicks off, though, might not be as obvious. NAW will likely serve as the sixth man (or co-sixth man of sorts, with Zaccharie Risacher) but as the Hawks are without a tried-and-true backup point guard, he's likely to handle the ball more than he was asked to in Minnesota.
That might not be a bad thing; Alexander-Walker has a pretty good feel for the game. But him taking the reins of the second unit surely would be a new thing, as facilitation wasn't No. 1 on his list of responsibilities in Minnesota, where the second unit mostly operated with a point guard-by-committee approach. He showed he can make a nice pass (career-high 2.7 assists per game in 2024-25) and might have to keep showing that in his inaugural Hawks season.
The Hawks could try to run a similar setup, splitting the responsibilities of backup ballhandler with a few other Hawks, according to Kevin Pelton of ESPN, who described the team's backup guard situation:
"...While Atlanta has upgraded its second-unit backcourt by adding Nickeil Alexander-Walker, he's not a primary ball handler. Alexander-Walker, incumbent starter Dyson Daniels and fellow newcomer Luke Kennard might share playmaking duties when Young rests.
And that makes sense... Sort of. But with Daniels likely in the starting lineup and spending most of his time defending opposing stars, and Kennard being much better as a catch-and-shoot weapon than a point guard of any kind... the onus could realistically fall on NAW to run the offense pretty regularly when the Hawks trot out full bench units.
If Alexander-Walker doesn't run the second unit, who does?
I know plenty of you read that first section and kept muttering "What about Kobe Bufkin?"
Well, what about Kobe Bufkin?
In theory, the third-year guard would form a fun second-unit backcourt with NAW. But after playing 27 total games in his first two seasons, any production from Bufkin would be a bonus — but shouldn't be counted on at this point. If he develops into a playable backup option, that would be thrilling for both the team and the small legion of Bufkin believers that still exists among the Hawks fan population.
And Zaccharie Risacher, last year's top pick, could be in line for a huge sophomore season, but isn't close to being ready to handle the offense on his own (which is fine, that was never going to be his primary source of contribution to this team).
So until further notice, Alexander-Walker looks like the likeliest option to command the second-unit for the upstart Hawks.