When the Los Angeles Lakers traded Russell Westbrook away, it wrapped up a brutal era of basketball in LA. The deal didn’t work. The trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Westbrook failed miserably. But at least it was over. The deal was mostly a salary dump. Yet now, a few years later, one of the forgotten pieces of the trade has emerged as the best player of the deal.
Nickeil-Alexander Walker was thrown into the trade by the Jazz. Shipped out as a throwaway piece, landing with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was traded alongside Mike Conley and two-second round picks, all of which went to Minnesota. The Lakers even handed the Wolves a second in the deal. What did the Timberwolves give up? D’Angelo Russell.
At the time, the Lakers were winners. They dumped Westbrook and got back Russell. But now, Alexander-Walker has proven to be the best guy from that trade.
Nickeil-Alexander Walker has become best player from Lakers' Russell Westbrook trade
During his time in Minnesota, Alexander-Walker proved his worth as a rotation piece. His 2024-25 campaign, in particular, was extremely impressive.
Unfortunately for the Wolves, his impressive play last year cost them. Already an apron team, the Timberwolves ended up losing Alexander-Walker in free agency. He inked a shiny new contract with the Atlanta Hawks.
Now, he’s putting up Most Improved Player numbers in Atlanta. Despite the Hawks’ relative lack of success, as evidenced by the Trae Young trade, Alexander-Walker has been a major bright spot.
So far this year, Alexander-Walker has appeared in 44 games for the Hawks, starting 37 of them and playing a career-high 32.9 minutes per contest. He is averaging 20.5 points (career-high), 3.0 rebounds (career-high), 3.5 assists (career-high), and 1.1 steals (career-high) while shooting 44.4% from the field and 37.9% from deep on 8.2 three-point attempts per game (career-high).
Needless to say, it’s been an incredible season for Alexander-Walker, and it’s even more impressive considering he was a throw-in piece in a salary dump just a few years prior.
Obviously, the primary purpose of the Westbrook trade was for the Lakers to move on from the veteran point guard. They landed Russell in return, who played okay for them before flaming out and getting traded (again).
However, it’s still crazy to think that Alexander-Walker has risen to the level of being the best player in that deal. Perhaps if the Lakers had seen what the Wolves did, they could have tried to bring him to LA all those years ago.