Nickeil Alexander-Walker

Northwest Notes: Lillard, Brogdon, NAW, Micic, Jokic

Bucks guard Damian Lillard expects to have a positive reception from fans when he plays in Portland on Wednesday for the first time as a visitor, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian (subscriber link). The longtime Trail Blazers star is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, spending his first 11 NBA seasons with the club.

I think it will be emotional because I care,” Lillard said. “I loved playing in Portland. I loved living there and still live there. I’m not like a big crier. I don’t think I’ll be crying, and all of that. But I care. Everything I ever said about my time in Portland playing there, I meant that s–t. So, yeah, it will be.”

Lillard requested a trade last summer when he felt like he and the Blazers were moving in different directions. The 33-year-old wanted a chance to compete for championships. Milwaukee (32-15, second in the East) and Portland (14-33, 14th in the West) are at opposite ends of the standings thus far in 2023/24.

I loved the organization. I loved everybody I went to work with every day. And I think what made it the hardest is it wasn’t a wasn’t a broken relationship. So coming back, being able to be here, I’m in a great situation,” Lillard said, per ESPN.com. “The reason it all came about in the first place was for a chance to win it all. We couldn’t be at that place at the same time. So I come back with love, and I’m excited to be back in the Moda Center.”

Here’s from the Northwest:

  • Trail Blazers guard Malcolm Brogdon has been a popular name in trade rumors ever since he was sent to Portland as part of the Jrue Holiday deal. However, he tells Jason Quick of The Athletic that he’s pleased with his situation and isn’t seeking a trade. “I’m happy here. I’m valued here. Valued in this leadership/lead-guard role,” Brogdon told The Athletic. “And I can’t complain with that. I’m happy in Portland.” The reigning Sixth Man of the Year, who also said he hasn’t spoken to GM Joe Cronin about a potential deal, added that he didn’t necessarily feel as valued by the Celtics, who traded him after a single season.
  • Nickeil Alexander-Walker says he was “terrified” after being traded to the Timberwolves last February, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. The 25-year-old had already been traded two times in 2022 (to Portland and Utah), and wasn’t playing a regular role with the Jazz last season. Alexander-Walker wondered how he’d be able to crack the rotation for the Wolves, but wound up becoming a key contributor after injuries to Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels down the stretch. He re-signed with Minnesota on a two-year, $9MM contract over the summer.
  • Former EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic doesn’t seem to mind his lack of playing time thus far with the Thunder, per Eurohoops.net. Micic won back-to-back EuroLeague titles (2021 and 2022) with Anadolu Efes. “From the outside for people that follow my career, maybe some things are not smooth and easygoing for me,” Micic said. “But that’s not important to me. The most important is my current feeling, and my current feeling is showing me that everything makes sense, everything was with a reason.Everything in Europe that I achieved was not given to me. I had to work for that. Nobody gave me anything there. So that’s how I learned it.” The 30-year-old NBA rookie is averaging 3.2 PPG and 2.3 APG in 11.8 MPG over 26 appearances with Oklahoma City this season.
  • Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will be sidelined for Wednesday’s contest in Oklahoma City due to lower back pain, but it’s not expected to be a long-term injury, head coach Michael Malone told reporters prior to the game (Twitter link via Bennett Durando of The Denver Post). “I wouldn’t say anything that I think is gonna be a long-term concern. … That back pain was not improving, wasn’t getting any better, so it was just determined by medical staff to try to get that back right, rehab and treatment,” Malone said.

Wolves Notes: Gobert, Towns, Reid, Alexander-Walker

Rudy Gobert‘s decision to play Saturday with an aching left hip is reflective of the Timberwolves‘ philosophy, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Players are held out when they’re injured — Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels both missed the game — but when it’s just a matter of soreness, they reject the idea of load management and find a way to get on the court.

“There’s going to be points in the season where you’ve got to play these types of games,” coach Chris Finch said. “If you’re always resting guys, then you don’t have the resiliency to go battle through that, so I think it’s important.”

Gobert played a vital role in picking up a hard-fought win at Charlotte. He made 10 of 12 shots from the field, including eight dunks, collected 12 rebounds and had three blocks, including a late one on a Miles Bridges shot that helped to seal the game.

“Just being dominant, just being aggressive,” Gobert said. “My teammates did a great job finding me early in the game, and I just tried to be a force.”

There’s more on the Wolves:

  • Chemistry between Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns was an issue last year, but it has been noticeably better this season, Krawczynski adds. Two of Gobert’s baskets Saturday night came on lob passes from Towns, and Krawczynski notes that Minnesota has a plus-24.3 net rating over its last seven games in the minutes the two big men have played together.
  • Finch brought a new wrinkle to his rotation against the Hornets, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. For part of the fourth quarter, the Wolves had reserve big man Naz Reid on the court alongside Gobert and Towns — Finch suggested that they were his best players on the night. Towns posted 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Reid shot 9-of-14 and scored 23 points. “Naz was a huge lift off the bench,” Finch said. “It broke my heart to pull him out, to be honest.”
  • Nickeil Alexander-Walker seemed like a throw-in when he was acquired in the Mike Conley trade in February, but he has become an important part of the Wolves’ success, Krawczynski states in a separate story. Alexander-Walker has been moved at the last two trade deadlines, but he feels like he has found a home. “I want to credit Minnesota as an organization — and Finch — for giving me opportunities to play through mistakes,” he said. “I’ve made mistakes this season and they’ve kept me out there. So now, that confidence, being in the present is resonating.”

Western Notes: MPJ, Alexander-Walker, Wemby, Morant, A. Holiday

With Aaron Gordon unavailable for the Nuggets‘ past three games due to a right heel injury, Michael Porter Jr. has seen more action at power forward and said the transition has been a smooth one, per Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette (Twitter links).

“It’s easier for me, I think, at the four. It’s more of a matchup for me,” Porter explained. “Those bigger guys guarding me, they don’t want to chase around screens. They don’t want to close out all the way. I can get by them easier. So, it’s fun playing the four. It’s fine playing the three, too, but it hasn’t been too much of an adjustment, because our offense is very fluid.”

Porter scored a season-high 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting in Denver’s victory over Houston on Wednesday. It remains to be seen which position he’ll spend the most time at on Friday, as Gordon is listed as questionable for the Nuggets’ contest in Phoenix.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

  • Nickeil Alexander-Walker didn’t have much of a role for the rebuilding Jazz last season, but after a trade to Minnesota, he’s playing key minutes for a contending Timberwolves team, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Alexander-Walker had his best game of the season in a win over his former team on Thursday, racking up 20 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and five steals in 36 minutes.
  • Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama has been on a tear lately, averaging 21.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, and 2.5 steals per night in his past four games. However, all four of those games were losses. The Spurs know they need more production out of other players on the roster to help the young phenom, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required).
  • Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has been subpoenaed to testify next month in an ongoing civil case related to an incident that occurred during a pickup game at his house during the summer of 2022. Lucas Finton of The Memphis Commercial Appeal has the details.
  • Speaking to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Rockets guard Aaron Holiday discussed a handful of topics, including his new role as a locker room leader, his early impressions of Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks as teammates, Alperen Sengun‘s development, and whether he and brothers Jrue Holiday and Justin Holiday have talked about playing on the same team. “Yeah, but everything has to work out perfectly for that to happen,” Aaron said of his teaming up with his brothers. “It would be tough for that to happen, but obviously we’re all for it.”

Northwest Notes: Alexander-Walker, KAT, Thunder, Watson

Multifaceted Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker finally seems to have created a unique niche with his third NBA team, writes Oren Weisfeld of Sportsnet.ca. Alexander-Walker’s versatile game has earned him plaudits from key Minnesota personnel.

“There was a lot of pressure on him when he came into the league, whether it be, you know, a lot of it was self-imposed,” Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said of the guard’s early years in New Orleans, where Finch served as an associate head coach. “He was trying too hard, trying to do too much, trying to prove everything, wanted it all at once.”

In 19.7 MPG off the bench for the 9-3 Timberwolves, Alexander-Walker is averaging 5.4 PPG, 2.4 APG, 1.8 RPG, 0.8 SPG and 0.8 BPG.

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

  • Though there has been much chatter swirling about the fit of star Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns alongside two other nominal centers, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic submits that Towns’ superlative offense makes him worth retaining. On Saturday evening, he led Minnesota’s successful 121-120 comeback against the Pelicans, scoring 29 points while shooting 10-of-11 from the field, dishing out nine dimes, grabbing six boards and topping it all off with the game-winner. It’s games like that one that make Towns such an important piece on a club with major postseason goals, according to Krawcyznski, who opines that the Wolves are on too much of a roll with Towns to trade him, for now.
  • Although Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is trying to temper expectations for Oklahoma City, the club is already looking much improved this year, writes Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Rookie center Chet Holmgren just turned in his best night yet, scoring 36 points while shooting 14-of-22 from the field, pulling down ten rebounds and dishing out five dimes. All-NBA point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, not to be outdone, chipped in 40 of his own. A clutch buzzer-beating triple from Holmgren propelled the Thunder to overtime against the Warriors on Saturday night, where the young team pulled out an impressive win. “We have a young team that will grow over time,” Daigneault said. “We don’t want to cap the potential of any of our players.” At 9-4, Oklahoma City might be arriving already.
  • Second-year Nuggets small forward Peyton Watson has earned regular rotation minutes this season. The UCLA product credits some tough love during his rookie season tenure with Denver’s NBAGL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, for abetting his long-term development, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post.

Northwest Notes: NAW, Reid, Brogdon, Agbaji, Nuggets

In his first foray in free agency, former first-round pick Nickeil Alexander-Walker decided to re-sign with the Timberwolves on a two-year, $9MM deal. Alexander-Walker had bounced around the league in his first four seasons, playing for New Orleans and Utah before being traded to Minnesota in February (he was technically on Portland for one day in ’21/22 as well).

The 25-year-old wing had a strong summer, helping Canada win a bronze medal at the World Cup, and he’s ready to show he’s more than just a defensive specialist, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (subscriber link).

My mentality, now more than ever, has been right,” Alexander-Walker said. “… I’m doing the right things, and I know that these guys are behind me and I’m in a position that I have support and trust and opportunity.”

As Hine writes, Alexander-Walker has been a fill-in starter during preseason with Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels missing time due to injuries. That’s an indication that he’ll be a rotation regular once the 2023/24 season begins, and a “less is more” approach on offense could be the key to staying on the court.

When he first came into the league … he wanted to always play with the dribble, go somewhere and try to do things, and he got himself in trouble doing that at times,” head coach Chris Finch said. “But now he uses his shooting. He’s a high-level shooter. Has a great high release so he can always get it off on people. Now, he’s using that to set up the rest of his game, which is really smart.”

Here’s more from the Northwest:

  • The Timberwolves need to find the best way to optimize big man Naz Reid after signing him to a three-year, $42MM extension before he hit free agency. As Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic details, Minnesota plans to use Reid primarily at power forward in ’23/24, which is a change — he has mostly played center to this point in his career. However, the early returns have been promising, per Krawczynski. “Right before Naz got hurt (he broke his left wrist at the end of the ’22/23 regular season), I thought he found his groove at the 4, really found out what that looked like,” Finch said. “Now, defensively, he’s got to get better and better there, and we’re going to have to help him with some schemes and stuff like that. I think this is all about trying to get your best players on the floor, and he’s clearly in our top eight players.”
  • Trail Blazers guard Malcolm Brogdon, who was dealt to Portland from Boston in the Jrue Holiday trade, says he has no issues coming off the bench again in ’23/24, tweets Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report. “I think it’s honestly important for Scoot (Henderson) to get this experience, starting,” Brogdon said. “He’s going to be the franchise player going forward, so he has to be invested in and given that opportunity.” Brogdon won Sixth Man of the Year last season with the Celtics.
  • Jazz head coach Will Hardy wants Ochai Agbaji to focus on improving defensively in ’23/24, particularly on the ball, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. “I would like to see him take another step forward in terms of his isolation defense,” Hardy said of the second-year wing. “Guarding the ball in a pick-and-roll and navigating those screens is a skill and it takes a certain type of athleticism.” The Jazz have until October 31 to exercise their third-year option on Agbaji’s rookie scale contract.
  • Bennett Durando of The Denver Post lists five reasons why the Nuggets will repeat as NBA champions this season — and five reasons why they won’t.

Northwest Notes: Knox, Reath, Wolves, NAW, Thunder, Micic

Kevin Knox‘s new contract with the Trail Blazers is an Exhibit 10 deal, Hoops Rumors has learned. That doesn’t mean Knox won’t have an opportunity to make Portland’s regular season roster, but if he does, he’ll be on a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary contract that only covers a single season.

If Knox is waived before the season begins, he’d be eligible to earn a bonus worth $75K if he signs a G League contract and spends at least 60 days with the Rip City Remix, Portland’s affiliate. Exhibit 10 contracts can also be converted into two-way deals, but that won’t be an option for Knox, who has five years of NBA service, making him ineligible to be a two-way player.

Most of the Trail Blazers’ recent free agent additions also received Exhibit 10 contracts. One exception is big man Duop Reath, whose deal includes an Exhibit 9 clause but not Exhibit 10 language. That suggests he may not be a candidate to join the Remix if he doesn’t make Portland’s regular season roster.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • The Timberwolves, who defeated Dallas on Thursday, are taking the preseason seriously, recognizing that it’s a good opportunity to establish early chemistry with Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert healthy, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “If we don’t get something out of these games, you’re risking putting yourself behind the eight ball,” said head coach Chris Finch, adding that the team is looking to figure out its identity.
  • One encouraging sign from the Timberwolves‘ preseason opener was that Nickeil Alexander-Walker picked up right where he left off last season, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune, who notes that the guard became a starter and important defender in the postseason. Alexander-Walker signed a two-year, $9MM contract in July to remain in Minnesota.
  • Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman rounds up the highlights from the Thunder‘s media day earlier this week, passing along the most notable comments from head coach Mark Daigneault and many Oklahoma City players, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
  • In a separate story for The Oklahoman, Joe Mussatto goes more in depth on Vasilije Micic‘s first session with local reporters, sharing the explanation the new Thunder wing provided for why he felt the time was right to make the move from Europe to the NBA. According to Micic, he had serious talks with the Thunder a couple years ago, but felt he still had something to prove in the EuroLeague. “I wanted to come somewhere that someone knows me and someone really wanted me, and this is what happened this summer,” he said.

Northwest Notes: Lillard, Gobert, Alexander-Walker, Clarkson

The market for Damian Lillard would have been limited even without his insistence on playing for the Heat, Sean Deveney writes in a Forbes article. Two months have passed since Lillard asked the Trail Blazers for a trade, and an unidentified executive tells Deveney that not many teams would have pursued Lillard regardless of his preference.

“I don’t think anyone likes the idea of Dame coming in and forcing the Blazers’ hand like this, forcing them to take a deal from a team that does not have the assets,” the executive said. “That’s a bad precedent, and it is one we are seeing too much of. But if Dame had not said, ‘Miami or nothing,’ where else was Portland really going to go for a deal? Maybe Brooklyn? But where else? There’s not that many teams that are going to give you a bunch of players and picks for a 33-year-old who can’t stay healthy and has a giant contract sitting there.”

Lillard will make about $215MM over the next four years, including a two-year extension he signed last summer that will pay him $58.5MM when he’s 35 and $63MM when he’s 36. There are also injury concerns after Lillard was shut down early the past two seasons.

The Heat are one of the few teams willing to absorb that deal, Deveney adds, and Lillard is a good fit with their other personnel, so Miami would have been a natural destination even if Lillard hadn’t mentioned the city.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

  • After a disappointing World Cup run with France, Rudy Gobert is looking forward to starting his second season with the Timberwolves, per Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. Gobert said there were a lot of adjustments to deal with last season, but he saw positive developments, even though it ended with a first-round playoff ouster. “We didn’t go as far as we wanted to go but we were resilient,” he said. “We had a lot of injuries and a lot of things that didn’t go our way. But we kept fighting. I liked the mindset that we had. Especially in the playoffs.”
  • Nickeil Alexander-Walker is looking forward to having stability when he reports to Timberwolves camp, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Alexander-Walker has been traded three times in his four-year career, but he signed a two-year, $9MM contract with Minnesota this summer.
  • After scoring 34 points as the Philippines closed out World Cup play with a win over China, Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson told fans in Manila that he plans to continue playing for the national team, BasketNews relays. “I do not think this was my last performance with this jersey,” Clarkson said. “I have more time, and I still can hoop.”

Western Notes: Kings, Brooks, Jones, Lillard, Timberwolves

The Kings decided to tweak the roster rather than make major changes this offseason after finally reaching the postseason in the spring. They acquired Chris Duarte in a trade and re-signed Harrison Barnes and Trey Lyles. They also signed EuroLeague star Sasha Vezenkov.

Kings coach Mike Brown is excited to have his core group back and is eager to see how they respond to the newfound respect they’ve gained after snapping the franchise’s long playoff drought.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how we can handle the pressure,” the Kings coach said. “It’s flipped now. We’re no longer hunting people; people are hunting us. And there are expectations, so how do we handle that? I believe our guys are ready for it, and with the fans that we have here and the juice they brought last year – let’s go. Let’s get it. I’m excited for Sasha, I’m excited for Chris Duarte, I’m excited about our young guys. It’s good to have the new guys, but I’m more excited about having our guys to be able to run it back and give them the opportunity to grow as a nucleus than anything else.”

We have more from the Western Conference:

  • The Grizzlies allowed Dillon Brooks in free agency and traded Tyus Jones. So what have they lost? Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal explores that topic. The Grizzlies have become known for their flashy style and trash talking and Brooks was a major reason for that. Jones was a locker room leader and led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio in each of his four seasons with the club.
  • Trail Blazers fans want the Damian Lillard saga to be resolved soon. In a poll conducted by Jason Quick of The Athletic, 80.4% want the front office to take the best offer for their longtime All-Star and prioritize the team ahead of Lillard. However, the high-scoring guard was voted as the franchise’s greatest player (51.9%), ahead of Clyde Drexler and Bill Walton.
  • Anthony Edwards (United States), Karl-Anthony Towns (Dominican Republic), Rudy Gobert (France), Kyle Anderson (China), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Canada) and draft-and-stash prospect Matteo Spagnolo (Italy) are participating in the World Cup, while Luka Garza played for Bosnia and Herzegovina in a pre-qualifying Olympic tournament. That should give those Timberwolves players a head start to the NBA season, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Alexander-Walker agrees with the notion. “I want to use it to propel me for the season,” he said.

And-Ones: Team Canada, Ownership Stakes, Cap Room, Giles

While a Team USA roster led by Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Brandon Ingram, and Mikal Bridges will enter the 2023 World Cup as the frontrunner next month, Team Canada’s initial 18-man group features some real star power.

The extended roster, announced this week by Canada Basketball, is headlined by Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder forward Luguentz Dort, Knicks forward RJ Barrett, and Rockets forward Dillon Brooks.

It also features five other players currently on NBA rosters: veteran big men Dwight Powell (Mavericks) and Kelly Olynyk (Jazz), guards Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Timberwolves) and Cory Joseph (Warriors), and forward Oshae Brissett (Celtics). Purdue’s star center Zach Edey is on the roster too.

Team Canada will have to make a few cuts to get down to 12 players for the World Cup, and it’s possible some of the more notable names will drop out in order to focus on the NBA season. However, league sources tell Joe Vardon of The Athletic that Murray has reaffirmed his commitment to the team despite a lengthy postseason run with the Nuggets this spring.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • The minimum stake that someone can own in an NBA franchise has been lowered, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, who says a minority shareholder can now control as little as 0.5% of a team, down from 1%.
  • A total of eight teams operated below the cap this offseason, having entered the league year with $277MM in combined cap room, per Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. As Gozlan outlines, over half of that league-wide cap space was used to accommodate trades or contract negotiations rather than free agent signings.
  • Sean Cunningham of FOX40 in Sacramento (video link) caught up with free agent big man Harry Giles to talk about the 25-year-old’s efforts to make it back into the NBA, as well as the new rule related to two-way contracts that will unofficially be named after him.

Northwest Notes: Lillard, T. Brown, Milton, J. Collins, OKC

Appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter (YouTube link) on Monday night to provide an update on the Damian Lillard trade talks, Adrian Wojnarowski said it’s still “very early” in the process, pointing out that there’s no deadline looming to force the Trail Blazers into action — or to push potential Lillard suitors to submit their best offers.

While the Clippers would “love to be part of this process,” they don’t necessarily have the sort of assets the Blazers are seeking for Lillard, according to Wojnarowski. Portland also isn’t particularly moved by what what the Heat has to offer, but that Miami package may be the best the Blazers can get, Woj suggests.

“Now it’s going to be a process over perhaps this month, August, maybe into September, for Portland to try to extract as much as they can from Miami,” Wojnarowski said. “It isn’t like Miami comes to the table and says, ‘Here’s everything we have for Damian Lillard. Here you go.’ It doesn’t start that way. They’re gauging what Portland has (had) offered to them elsewhere.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • Troy Brown‘s two-year, $8MM deal with the Timberwolves is only guaranteed for one year, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Brown’s $4MM salary for 2024/25 is non-guaranteed. The Wolves used the same structure when they signed Shake Milton, whose $5MM salary for ’23/24 is guaranteed while his $5MM salary for ’24/25 isn’t, Hoops Rumors has learned. Nickeil Alexander-Walker‘s two-year, $9MM contract, on the other hand, is fully guaranteed.
  • After being the subject of trade speculation for years in Atlanta, John Collins is looking forward to getting a fresh start with the Jazz, he said during an interview on the team’s official website. “I was excited going to a place that I knew really wanted me and was trying to have me in the organization,” Collins said. “It’s always very nice to hear and know coming to a place that really wants you and really wants you to excel here. It’s a big sigh of relief knowing that all the trade talks are over and I can go to my new home and start anew.”
  • The Thunder‘s decision to use their cap room to accommodate salary dumps like Davis Bertans, Victor Oladipo, and Patty Mills this offseason reflected the team’s focus on its young core, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman writes. As Mussatto explains, with potentially pricey extensions coming down the road for players like Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City didn’t want to compromise future cap flexibility by signing a free agent to a long-term deal.