Atlanta Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh got off to a strong start, trading Terance Mann and Georges Niang plus a first-round pick for Kristaps Porzingis. Now, Saleh may be planning the ideal follow-up move: landing Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Alexander-Walker is coming off averaging 9.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists while shooting 38.1% from beyond the arc for the Minnesota Timberwolves during the regular season.
Now, he hits unrestricted free agency and, potentially, the Hawks’ radar.
“The Stein Line reported last week that the Hawks were determined to make use of their $25 million trade exception that still lingers from last summer’s Dejounte Murray trade,” The Stein Line’s Jake Fischer wrote on June 24. “That doesn’t change with the Porziņģis trade.
“Word is that the Hawks, at roughly $30 million below the luxury-tax line, are expected to register interest in a sign-and-trade deal with Minnesota to try to acquire Nickeil Alexander-Walker — among various options that Atlanta is exploring with its trade and financial flexibility — in the event that the Timberwolves, in their quests to re-sign Julius Randle and Naz Reid, run out of the flexibility needed to re-sign Alexander-Walker.”
The Hawks could attempt to sign Alexander-Walker with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception in free agency.
However, they can offer him more money via the sign-and-trade.
That could be the key for the Hawks to land Alexander-Walker over other potential suitors this offseason. He was linked to the Orlando Magic, but that was before they acquired Desmond Bane in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Alexander-Walker turns 27 years old in September. He could give the Hawks one of the most dynamic sub-package backcourts in the league alongside 2024 breakout star Dyson Daniels.
Daniels was an All-Defensive First Team pick and won Most Improved Player this past season.
Alexander-Walker is a better scorer than Daniels, the better defender, making him a nice trade-off for The Great Barrier Thief or the four-time All-Star, Trae Young, in the rotation during games.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker went out on sour note in 2025 playoffs
Alexander-Walker posted an 8.3/2.3/1.8 line in the postseason, slashing .389/.349/.882 for the sixth-seeded Timberwolves.
His final game was a dud, with Alexander-Walker going scoreless in 20 minutes, shooting 0-for-8 from the floor and 0-for-4 from downtown against the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC won the series 4-1 with Alexander-Walker averaging 15 PPG before Game 5.
The question for the Hawks is which player they would get.
Is Alexander-Walker the player he proved to be most of the regular season, or the one who has gone scoreless in the final game of three of the last five series he has played in?
The Timberwolves drafted Rob Dillingham in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, and they still have veteran Mike Conley, making Alexander-Walker expendable. The Hawks could look to take advantage of that, and it sounds as though they are.
That would throw their draft projections even further into question.
It would also check the Hawks’ two biggest positional needs off their offseason list before getting too deep into the summer.