Average of 12+3+3 per game was regarded as a parallel player. He had no ball to play at one time. Now he finally got used to it and was about to be given up again!

Although the Timberwolves were eliminated in the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive year, as a team in a small-scale market, it is already quite difficult for the Timberwolves to reach such a height. However, some recent rumors about the Timberwolves have made fans feel extremely worried. One is that the team is preparing to try their best to compete for Kevin Durant, who is about to turn 37 in the summer. There is no doubt that this will be a big bet. After all, if Durant is in his twilight years of his career, if his condition cannot be guaranteed, it will have a huge negative impact on the team. Another news is that the team is likely to give up Alexander Walker, which is definitely an unexpected operation.

Since joining the Timberwolves in the mid-22-23 season, Walker has gradually adapted to the team's system. In the past two seasons, he has played all 82 games, and as the core point of the second team, he has helped the team continue the consistency of scoring during rotations many times. He is the most important member of the substitute lineup besides Naz Reed. Moreover, in this year's playoffs, Walker also performed well, especially in the Western Conference Finals facing the Thunder led by his cousin Gilgers Alexander, who handed in 12 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Logically speaking, he should be the one who stayed, but he was going to be given up. This undoubtedly made his career even more bumpy. Let’s return to Walker’s career story together and see what he has experienced over the years!

1. Excellent offensive and defensive potential are regarded as the future by the Pelicans.

Back in Walker's college days, he studied at Virginia Tech at that time. In his freshman season, he became the main player of the team, averaging 10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. I have to say that Walker's static talent is indeed excellent, with a height of 1.96 meters, a weight of 93 kilograms, a wingspan of 2.07 meters, and a standing height of 2.57 meters. This is the most perfect static physical fitness of the shooting guard. But unfortunately, his dynamic talent is slightly average, but even so, after Walker's freshman season, there are still many scouts optimistic about his draft market. But with conservative considerations, Walker still chose to continue playing in the NCAA for one year, and the facts also proved that Walker's choice was right. He could already output 16.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.9 steals in his sophomore season, and was selected into the ACC region's best third team, showing outstanding potential on both offense and defense. Therefore, in the summer of 2019, Walker made the decision to participate in the NBA draft and launch a rush to a higher stage.

The Pelicans, which just lost Anthony Davis this year, also started the reconstruction mode. They have the draft picks with the No. 1 pick, the 8th pick and the 17th pick respectively, and the Pelicans selected Zion Williamson, Jaxson Hays and Walker respectively. Although the team already had Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart at that time, Walker was still regarded as one of the team's futures. During his rookie season, with the team having a bunch of young people, he still got 47 opportunities to play, averaged 5.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Although the data is barely good, Walker also exposed some problems, such as his lack of strength and it is difficult to find an advantage in confrontation. In addition, his shooting is also very unstable, with an average of 36.8% shooting percentage and 34.6% three-point shooting percentage, which is completely insufficient for Walker, who is in the small ball era.

2. Start your wandering career and regain your life in the Timberwolves.

20-21 season, the Pelicans still gave Walker a chance to grow, and the time increased him to 21.9 minutes. His data has indeed improved a lot. He can output 11 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1 steal, but the senior management is still disappointed with him because his efficiency still has not improved at all. In addition, his attendance rate is not guaranteed. He has only played 93 games in the past two years. Therefore, the Pelicans are becoming increasingly disappointed with him, especially other young people in the team have already played some content, but Walker is still standing still. Therefore, in the middle of the 21-22 season, although he scored a career-high 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists, his low shooting percentage made him a bargaining chip and was sent to the Trail Blazers by the team. Two days later, he was sent to the Jazz by the Trail Blazers. After a sudden turn of three teams, Walker realized the cruelty of the NBA and was also in a relatively passive situation, that is, the Jazz were not interested in him. As a result, he could only contribute 3.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in the remaining 15 games. He only played for 5 minutes in the playoffs and was directly DNP.

Walker was only 23 years old at that time, but suddenly there was no ball to play, which made him feel a little panic when he was young. What he didn't expect was that even though Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and others were sent away, the team still did not give him too many opportunities, and the average time per game was still only 14.7 minutes. In the Jazz team, which was already in the bad shape, he could only be a marginal person, which also disappointed Walker very much. Fortunately, a deal changed his fate. In order to send Mike Conley away, he was sent to the Timberwolves as a bonus, and since then his career began to turn around. In the playoffs that year, facing the later champion Nuggets, Walker became one of the team's starters, averaging 8.4 points, 2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage reached 40%. Although he was finally easily defeated by the Nuggets, his performance was indeed very surprising, which also helped him regain his new life in Minnesota.

3. It has become a stable rotation, but it may still have to leave.

In the 23-24 season, after signing a two-year, $9 million contract extension, Walker played an outstanding performance beyond this contract. While playing 82 games, he averaged 8 points, 2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, and his three-point shooting rate reached 39.1%. Walker finally completed a complete transformation. Not only did his three-point shooting become more stable, but his defensive ability was gradually revealed and he became one of the team's 3Ds. This season, Walker scored a perfect contract year performance, with regular season data rising to 9.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and his three-point shooting percentage was still an excellent 38.1%, and his output also reached 141, which was the end point for the team's bench second only to Naz Reed. Moreover, during the playoffs, Walker has become the team's surprise. For example, in the second game of equalizing the score in the second round, he scored 20 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists on 7 of 13 shots. In the Western Conference Finals, he scored 23 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists in the fourth game, dragging the game to the last moment before he regretted losing. There is no doubt that Walker has proved that he has fully gained a foothold in the NBA, but even so, he may still have to leave. Fortunately, with his performance this year, he should not be missing a next home, but if he really leaves, it will still make Timberwolves fans feel regret and regretful.