Timberwolves send guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker to Atlanta in sign-and-trade deal

Nickeil Alexander-Walker came to the Timberwolves in March 2023 as a throw-in to help complete the trade that brought Mike Conley to Minnesota for D’Angelo Russell.

Alexander-Walker’s career was in a precarious place. He was about to be a free agent, he wasn’t getting minutes on a bad Utah team and now he was on a new team, with whom he had to prove himself in a short amount of time.

He did that, and a little over two years later, Alexander-Walker is cashing in after taking advantage of his opportunity with the Wolves.

Alexander-Walker is headed to the Atlanta Hawks on a sign-and-trade after agreeing to a four-year, $62 million deal, ESPN reported. He’ll technically sign with the Wolves, then go to Atlanta for a 2027 second-round pick and cash; and the Wolves generate a trade exception, which eases their ability to make salaries work in future deals.

The Wolves and Hawks executed the sign-and-trade because it allowed Alexander-Walker to sign for slightly above the mid-level exception of around $14 million and the Hawks to preserve their ability to use their mid-level exception elsewhere.

After the Wolves signed Naz Reid and Julius Randle to new deals over the weekend, there wasn’t much money left under the second apron of the luxury tax. The Wolves are trying to avoid entering that territory for the second consecutive season and dodge the various roster-building restrictions that come with it like not being able to combine salaries in trades and freezing draft picks in future trades.

That means they had to let Alexander-Walker go, even as he developed into a coveted two-way player.

Alexander-Walker first made an impact on the Wolves with his defense and started for them after Reid and Jaden McDaniels were hurt against the Nuggets in the 2023 postseason.

From there, he never left the rotation. He played in 82 games each of the last two seasons after signing a two-year deal worth $9 million. During his two-plus seasons with the Wolves, Alexander-Walker averaged 8.4 points per game and shot 38.4% from three-point range. That, plus his defense and his ability to play some point guard, made him an attractive target in free agency for many teams that need the kind of versatility he could bring on both ends of the floor.

The Wolves have 13 players under contract for next season and around an estimated $7 million in space under the second apron to sign at least one more player (NBA rules mandate teams must have 14 or 15 players under contract on the roster). They can use up to their taxpayer midlevel exception of just under $5.7 million on one player.

The Wolves also lost a fan favorite from the end of their bench, as Luka Garza agreed to a two-year deal with the Celtics. Garza appeared in 92 games across the last three seasons with the Wolves and averaged 4.5 points.

Coaches and the front office always praised Garza’s work ethic despite not getting much playing time, and he served as an example in that area for other young players on the roster.

The team declined his option for next season on Sunday and Garza found a new home in Boston.